


The Quest to Save a Nadder

by Stripesicles222



Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-20
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-11 23:21:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 22
Words: 27,694
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28875603
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stripesicles222/pseuds/Stripesicles222
Summary: Stormfly has fallen ill.  With the cure's ingredients scattered across the archipelago, Hiccup and the other riders must hurry if they want to save their friend.  However, things go awry when Hiccup runs into an old acquaintance.
Kudos: 8





	1. The Journey Begins

The village was quiet as a lone Viking left his house. It was the early hours of the morning, and Hiccup was moving as quietly as his metal leg deemed possible. His father, the chief of Berk, was always busy, and therefore needed his sleep. And anyway, Stoick was always grumpy when woken up in the middle of the night, and Hiccup really didn't want to deal with that.

He cringed as his prosthetic squeaked on the steps. He silently cursed himself for not greasing the springs. It had been several months since the battle with the Red Death, but Hiccup still wasn't completely used to the fake leg, no matter what he and Gobber did to customize and improve it.

Once he was finally out the door, Hiccup ran to the academy with his night fury following closely. He needed to check on the other dragons.

During training that day, he had noticed that they had been acting strange; Hookfang hadn't tossed Snotlout once, Barf and Belch hadn't gotten involved in the twins' antics, and Meatlug…well Meatlug was always drowsy so it was hard to tell if there were any inconsistencies. Even Toothless wasn't quite his energetic self. Hiccup thought he was the only one who had noticed these oddities forming in the dragons' behavior. He chalked it up to them just being worn out and ended their day early so they could get some extra rest that evening.

But later that night, Astrid had come to the chief's house with worries about Stormfly.

"She's not quite herself," the young Shield-maiden had said. "I'm worried for her."

Hiccup had promised he would check on all the dragons later after Stoic had gone to bed.

When he finally reached the Academy, Hiccup let each of the dragons out of their cages and into the arena. One by one he checked on them, observing them thoroughly for anything out of the ordinary. Hookfang, Barf, Belch, and Meatlug seemed to be okay, and Hiccup began to feel his worry subside. Maybe the dragons really had just been overworked and exhausted. His hopes were dashed though, as he reached Stormfly.

As he approached the Nadder, he was surprised to see her shy away from him. Stormfly had always trusted him almost as much as she did Astrid. If she wouldn't let him anywhere near her, something must have been wrong with her.

Hiccup decided he would check the Book of Dragons with Fishlegs in the morning to see if there was anything that could help figure out what was going on. In the meantime, he led the dragons back into their cages for the night, and headed home before Stoick woke up.

"Hey, Fishlegs. Can see the Book of Dragons for a minute please?" Hiccup had gone to the Ingerman house as soon as the sun had risen.

"Sure Hiccup. May I ask why?" His stout friend asked as he handed over the Book.

"I checked on the dragons last night. Stormfly is still acting strange. She appears to be in perfect health, but she won't let me anywhere near her and seems nervous," Hiccup explained. "I promised Astrid I would find out what was wrong and try to fix it."

He flipped through the pages for anything that may give him a clue as to Stormfly's condition. Several minutes into his search, he stopped and pointed at a page, his eyes grew wide as he read.

"Bork wrote here about an encounter he had with dragons suffering from these same symptoms. He writes that he came across a group of dragons who all acted exhausted. As he observed them from a distance, over time most of the dragon breeds improved with rest… but the Nadders…"

Fishlegs was almost too scared to ask. "What about the Nadders?"

"Some of the Nadders…died," Hiccup replied sorrowfully.

"Oh no! This is bad! This is very… Wait, you said some of the Nadders, what happened to the rest?

"Bork writes that some of the Nadders ate a very odd combination of three even odder substances. Most of these Nadders managed to pull through, but the rest died within four days of showing symptoms."

"Stormfly first showed her symptoms yesterday."

"This means we have three days to find the cure…if we're lucky." Hiccup sighed. "Who knows how long the illness has been festering unnoticed."

"So, what are the three…ingredients, Hiccup?"

"The blossoms of the Bell Flowered Dragonwood tree, sandstone made brittle by changewing acid, and wide-leafed seagrass from the harbor." Hiccup read.

Fishlegs hummed in thought. "The last Dragonwood tree on Berk was burned down during the dragon wars, and since the wars ended, there hasn't been a single changewing here."

"True. And the wide leafed seagrass is a problem too," Hiccup added. "My dad says it used to tie up the keels and rudders of our longships. It was cleared away in its entirety about seventy years ago while my great-grandfather was chief."

"So, what do we do Hiccup?"

Hiccup thought for a moment. Where else could they find those ingredients? He remembered seeing them somewhere on their adventures, but where?

Hiccup handed the book back to Fishlegs as he hopped into Toothless' saddle. "Gather the Riders," He instructed. Have them meet at the Academy in 20 minutes. I'm going to the forge to check my maps. We have a Nadder to save!"

Fishlegs watched the Night Fury fly away. He had hoped to spend the day updating the Boulder class pages of the Book of Dragons. Oh well. He would just have to do that later.

"Come on Meatlug...Let's go find the others."

A half hour later, the riders assembled at the Academy in varying levels of alertness and willingness. If he had to guess, Hiccup would say the only three fully awake were himself, Astrid, and Fishlegs.

"As some of you know, the dragons were acting strangely yesterday," he began. "Last night I checked on them again, and most of the dragons were back to their usual selves."

"So why have you brought us all here?" Snotlout wasn't too happy about being dragged out of bed, especially if it was just to hear his scrawny cousin say everything was perfectly fine.

"Yeah!" Tuffnut interjected. "I was about to torture Ruffnut again when Fish-face over here woke her up by throwing rocks at the window!"

"It was the only way I could get your attention," Fishlegs defended himself.

"Whatever." Turning to Ruffnut he added, "I'll get you tonight." Ruff, of course, replied with a hard punch to her brother's gut. Much to Hiccup's dismay, the twins rolled around the arena, punching, kicking, and inflicting as much pain on the other as they could. He would never understand how the twins found this entertaining.

"Hey, guys? Guys?" Try as he might, Hiccup knew he'd never get them to break apart. With a sigh, he called to his reptilian friend for aid.

"Toothless, Plasma Blast!"

The night Fury obediently shot a bolt of blue plasma at the ground near the fighting teens. For a few seconds, all was quiet.

"Thanks, bud." Hiccup rewarded the dragon with a scratch under the chin. Turning to his fellow riders, Hiccup continued his explanation.

"As I was saying before I was interrupted, Most of the dragons have returned to their usual selves, that is, all the dragons except Stormfly."

"What's wrong with Stormfly?" Snotlout asked as he sauntered towards her cage. "She seems fine to me. Look at her! She's just sitting there. What's wrong with that?"

"Just because you don't see anything wrong with her doesn't mean she is okay." Astrid had had more than enough of Snotlout's insensibility. "Stormfly's usually at the front of the cage to greet me in the morning. Now she's cowering in the back. She's not eating, she's nervous, she's…"

Astrid's voice trailed off as she watched her reptilian friend on the other side of the bars.

"Hey, it will be okay. We can fix this." Hiccup placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder and gave her a comforting smile. Though clearly fighting back tears, she spared him a small smile of her own.

Turning to the rest of the group, HIccup told them of what he had discovered in the Book of Dragons.

"Fishlegs and I did some research this morning. It appears the Stormfly has come down with something Fishlegs named Nadder Lethargy Syndrome. Although any dragon can catch it, it can be fatal only to Nadders, and we don't have much time to gather the ingredients for the cure. That is where you guys come in. We need to split up and find all three parts within the next 36 hours. Ruff, Tuff! You two go to Scauldron Cove. There you should find an abundance of wide-leafed seagrass…make it fresh. Don't bring back the wilted stuff from the beach."

"We're on it Hiccup." The twins leaped onto their dragon.

Hiccup sighed as he watched them fly off, fighting all the way. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to send them off without someone to watch over them, but he didn't really have a choice.

"Snotlout, you and Fishlegs go to Camouflage Island and retrieve the acid affected sandstone. Be careful. That area is swarming with changewings."

"Puh-lease. I'm Snotlout! I'm not afraid of changewings; wild or not!"

"Well, I am." Fishlegs was shaking just thinking about the camouflaging dragons. "Why don't we just take Hiccup's advice and be careful."

"Whatever. Let's just get this over with."

Hiccup watched the other riders fly away. He knew that if they weren't killed by wild dragons, they would probably kill each other. He wished he could have gone with them to keep an eye on them, but he knew that wasn't an option.

"Toothless and I will go get the flowers from the Dragonwood tree," He informed Astrid.

"What about me?" Astrid asked indignantly. She would not be left out. "Stormfly is my dragon…I want to help."

Hiccup looked at the desperation in Astrid's downcast eyes. He had never seen her looking so hopeless and upset.

"Someone needs to stay with Stormfly. I'm sorry Astrid, but you need to stay here."

"But—"

"Please Astrid; Stormfly needs you now more than ever."

Astrid sighed in defeat.

"Okay, but this isn't over, Hiccup."

Hiccup took one last look at his distraught friend as he climbed on Toothless' saddle. "We'll back as quick as possible."

Astrid watched him fly away. She felt useless down here, but she knew Hiccup was right, as usual. Stormfly needed her. Astrid decided she would do everything possible to make her dragon comfortable until the others returned. She would get back at Hiccup later.


	2. Lava Flow Island

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hiccup and Toothless arrive at their destination and begin their search for their part of the cure. However, the island isn't as deserted as they would have expected.

Hiccup looked back and watched as Berk shrunk into the distance. He knew Astrid hated being left behind, but he also knew she had to stay with Stormfly. He would have to find a way to make it up to her. He turned forward reluctantly as his dragon flew on.

"Let's hurry bud," he said, giving Toothless a scratch behind his earflaps. "We have a nadder and friend to save."

The Night Fury warbled his agreement and shot forward towards the horizon.

A short while later, they arrived at their destination. Toothless landed on a beach at the edge of the jungle, shaking out his wings. Hiccup dismounted and gave him a scratch under the chin.

"Good work bud. If you fly that fast on the way home we'll be back in no time." The dragon ignored his rider's compliments and stuck his head in a nearby rock pool in search of fish. Hiccup laughed.

"Come on bud," he called. "Let's go find that flower. "

Toothless shook himself dry and trotted after his human. As the pair passed the tree line, Hiccup looked up at the mountain in the distance. A thick river of lava ran down the north face and flowed towards the sea, turning it into a steaming, bubbling mass. Hiccup was glad they were on the southern side.

"Here we are on an island with a massive lava flow, that I was creative enough to name Lava Flow Island." He chuckled wryly to himself and gave Toothless another scratch under the chin. "I gotta stretch my imagination some more, bud."

The dragon gave a soft warble as if in agreement. Rolling his eyes, it was then that Hiccup spotted what they were seeking. The first Dragonwood Tree he saw was far from perfect. It was late in the season, so the tree itself had no blossoms left on it at all. The ground encircling it, however, was a beautiful carpet of fallen white flowers.

"We could always pick those up." He sighed as he remembered what he had told the twins about getting fresh seagrass.

"Come on Toothless, let's see if we can find something a little less… stale." Hiccup picked up a few fallen blooms and offered them to Toothless for him to sniff. He hoped the trees further in from the coast would have been better protected from the offshore winds and would still have a covering of fresh petals.

The dragon led the way as they wandered deeper into the jungle, sniffing around carefully at every intersection. The air shimmered as it rose from the natural volcanic vents that heated the island and gave it an almost tropical feel. Hiccup would have thought so too, had he ever been to the tropics. As it was, he found it almost unbearably warm compared to the icy temperatures he was accustomed to.

The pair stayed reasonably close together with Hiccup only straying away a little to visually scan from any convenient high ground while Toothless sniffed his way through the undergrowth.

After a short search, the dragon stumbled into a small grove with Hiccup close behind, and on the far side, looking beautifully inviting, were two Dragonwood trees in full bloom.

"Well done Toothless" Hiccup smiled "Could you give me a boost bud, please?" With a bit of help from the nose of the Night Fury, Hiccup clambered up onto one of the thick lower branches of the first tree. Five feet out from the trunk of the tree, he reached a place where the flower-covered fronds of the upper branch bent down just above his head.

Not knowing how many flowers Stormfly would require to achieve a full recovery, Hiccup proceeded to gather as many as he could. Once all the blossoms within reach had been harvested, he slid back to the trunk of the tree and maneuvered himself to a branch on the other side. A few branches later the satchel was full to the brim and Hiccup was feeling very satisfied with himself.

"All done," he said as he mounted Toothless, "Let's get these flowers back to Berk." He secured his satchel to his saddle as the dragon stretched his wings and took off into the sky.

As they left the ground, Hiccup heard a dull twang. The kind of twang that came from a Viking war machine being fired. Almost instantly, a big chain came out of nowhere and trapped the pair. Toothless let out a cry of distress as they began hurtling towards the ground. Hiccup took hold of his knife and tried to cut the chains, but his attempts proved futile against the hard metal. They hit the ground with a resounding thud.

Hiccup let out a moan and rubbed his head as he crawled out from under the chain. He set to work on freeing his friend. As he wrestled with the chains, he checked their injuries. Somehow he had only received minor scrapes and bruising. The Night Fury was not so lucky. One of Toothless' wings had been bent in the wrong direction upon impact with the ground.

"Looks like we won't be flying anytime soon. This means we'll need to find another way to get these blossoms to Astrid." Hiccup checked his satchel to make sure the flowers hadn't gotten lost in the fall. Satisfied that they were safe, he turned his attention back to Toothless' wing.

"We need to make a splint, or else it may not heal properly," he decided. "But first, we should get out of here before whoever shot us down comes looking for us."

Hiccup and Toothless began walking in what they hoped was the opposite direction from where the chain came. But before they had taken two steps, Hiccup felt something hit his head, hard. He tried to turn, and see who had done this, but his vision was blurred and he slid to the ground. He thought he saw what looked like a small army of men approaching Toothless, but his vision was blocked by a large figure towering over him. The last thing he heard before he blacked out was a very familiar voice cackling above him.

"Hello, Brother…"


	3. Zippleback Forest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On their own part of the mission, the twins get a bit distracted.

For any dragon. the flight to Scauldron Cove was a long one. But for a dragon bearing bickering twins the whole way, it was impossibly long. Barch and Belch were getting tired.

Without consulting their riders, they decided to take a quick break on a nearby island. They were still a good 30 minutes from Scauldron Cove, as the dragon flies, but none could guess how long it would take the easily distracted twins. The island they landed on was mostly forest, but there was a sandy beach on one coast.

As they dismounted their winged steed, Ruff and Tuff began the island exploration by taking a look at their surroundings. Barf and Belch ignored their excited commentary and curled up to take a nap.

"Not a bad place," noted Tuffnut. "We should tell Hiccup and have him add it to his map!"

"Are you serious? This is our island!" exclaimed Ruffnut. "Besides, you don't even know what a map looks like."

"You're right…about not telling Hiccup that is. Come on! Let's go to that awesome beach we saw!"

"Last one there's a rotten gronckle egg!"

The twins raced off in the direction of the beach, paying no attention to all the eyes watching them from within the treeline.

A few hours later, the teens returned to the clearing. They approached the happily sleeping zippleback, finally ready to get on with their journey.

"Hey Barf! Belch! Time to go." Tuffnut shook the dragon awake. It turned both heads towards the twins and growled at them.

Upon receiving the less than friendly greeting, Tuffnut realized something a little too late.

"You're not Barf and Belch, are you?"

He backed up slowly as one of the heads released its gas, its partner sparking dangerously.

"RUN!" The teens took off through the woods, The mass explosion of ignited gas behind them would have been cool if it wasn't aimed at them.

Ruffnut and Tuffnut crashed through the forest with an angry Hideous Zippleback hot on their heels. It crushed the undergrowth with its great bulk as it lumbered through the trees. It chased them out of the woods and to a cliff-side followed by a sharp drop. The twins stopped short and watched with fearful intrigue as small rocks bounced down into the abyss. They turned around to see not one dragon, but an entire small herd of zipplebacks coming out of the trees.

"We are so dead," Tuffnut muttered. "Hey Ruff, before we die, there's something I have always wanted to tell you."

"What would that be, Tuff?"

"You're ugly."

Ruffnut punched him. "Aww. Thanks! You're uglier."

Tuff hit back. Next thing they knew they were hurtling off the cliff.

"See you in Valhalla!" They exclaimed simultaneously. They closed their eyes and braced themselves for the inevitable impact with the ground that raced up towards them with increasing speed.

Suddenly, their downwards momentum stopped and they felt themselves being lifted by the backs of their vests. Looking up, they found themselves being carried upwards by yet another Zippleback.

"Put us down you stupid mammal!" Tuff yelled at the dragon. "Dragons are mammals, right?" he asked his sister, who just shrugged in reply.

The dragon set them down on top of a hill a good distance from the other two-headed beasts. As their captor landed next to them, Ruff and Tuff backed away.

"What should we do?" Ruff whispered.

"I don't know. If only Hiccup were here. He'd know what to do."

"Well, what do we usually do in this situation?"

"I don't know, Hiccup usually tells us what to do." Tuff thought for a brief moment, and his face lit up as if he had come up with a great idea. "Wait! I know!" he exclaimed. "Watch this!"

He bent down and picked up a few good-sized rocks. He charged the dragon, hurling the rocks at it as he ran. The heads dodged easily and the closest one picked up Tuff by his collar and shook him sharply.

"Put me down!" he yelled. He tried punching at it, but only succeeding in flailing about like a puppet or ragdoll.

"Uh, Tuff, you actually have a better chance of getting injured up there," his sister pointed out.

"Oh. Really? Cool. Hey dragon, shake me around some more!"

The dragon happily obliged. After a minute or two…or ten (the twins were never good at counting) the dragon placed Tuff back on the ground.

Tuffnut stumbled around for a while, dizzy from the shaking. As they were trying to figure out what to do next, something on the dragon's necks caught Tuffnut's eyes.

"Hey!" he shouted. "What are you doing with Barf and Belch's saddles? YOU STOLE THEM, DIDN'T YOU?"

"Uhh, Tuff, I think this is Barf and Belch."

The dragon was indeed their beloved Zippleback. Seeing that playtime was over, Barf and Belch grinned at the riders and flipped them into their saddles. The small group took off and continued their flight to Scauldron cove, leaving behind a small island full of Zipplebacks, who were not disappointed in the least to see those two-legged noise-makers leave.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing for the twins is fun. Kinda reminds me of some of my friends.
> 
> I didn't realize how much a filler chapter this feels like... Do I regret it though? No, not really.


	4. Camouflage Island

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fishlegs and Snotlout arrive at Camouflage Island to find the brittle sandstone.

The short flight to Camouflage Island felt, to Snotlout, like an endless journey of never-ending pain and suffering.

Fishlegs kept babbling on and on about how little Vikings knew about dragons and the endless possibilities of things yet undiscovered. Snotlout was going insane by his lack of caring. He barely noticed when Fishlegs' topic changed to that of their destination.

"…Named for the abilities of its primary inhabitants, Camouflage Island was the second island discovered that was found to be swarming with changewings. The first being Changewing Island, obviously."

"Would you shut up?!" Snotlout groaned. "You've been filling my perfectly happy, empty head with useless facts ever since we left Berk!"

"They're not useless!" Fishlegs retorted. "This knowledge is vital to a dragon trainer's mind. If Hiccup didn't know anything about dragons do you think he would have been able to train Toothless?"

"He's Hiccup. If he got eaten it wouldn't make any difference."

"Of course not," Fishlegs agreed sarcastically. "The past has absolutely no bearing on the present whatsoever. Tell me this, Snotlout: if Hiccup hadn't found that Night Fury, what do you think your life would be like now?"

"I dunno…but I don't care either. Life would be much easier for me and Hookfang!"

"You sad, clueless boy." Fishlegs shook his head in pity for Snotlout's stupidity. "If Hiccup hadn't found Toothless, Astrid would have been chosen to fight in the arena. And being the fearless Viking she is, Astrid wouldn't have had any second thoughts about slaying a certain Monstrous Nightmare. You, my friend, would have no dragon!"

"Exactly…Wait…What? Just shut up!"

Fishlegs obliged happily, finding joy in the fact he had, once again, confused Snotlout into submission. He knew it wasn't like him to take the offensive against the other boy, but he just couldn't help it. That kid seriously had to read more! Or at all, really.

The trainers landed their dragons on one of the many cliffs of Camouflage Island. As the pair dismounted, they took a cautious look around for any changewings that may want to make their visit short, painful, and of no return. Despite his show of bravado, Snotlout really wasn't too keen on meeting his acidic doom.

"I don't see anything," he whispered.

"Neither do I."

With the impending feeling of danger subsiding slightly, the teens breathed a little bit easier. But even so, there was something in the air that made them cautious all the same. Whether it be the memory of their previous exchanges with the changewings, or the scent of acid that hung in the air, they didn't know. But they knew it probably wasn't wise to linger longer than they needed to.

"Let's go find the thingy and get out of here."

"You mean the Sandstone?" Fishlegs' smug grin as he corrected SNotlout was what finally pushed him over the edge.

"Of course that's what I meant," he snapped. "What else would I mean? The trees? The air? That angry dragon over there? That….angry..dra-drag…RUN!"

And run they did. The changewing roared at them, green goop flying through the air as it gave chase. The teens ran even faster; as fast as their stout Viking legs would carry them. But it wasn't fast enough. Fishlegs soon fell behind. He tripped over a loose stone and fell to the ground. He turned over and saw the rogue dragon approaching.

"HEELP!" He screamed. The dragon stood over him and Fishlegs cringed as he saw the acid bubbling up in its throat.

"Oh Thor, Oh Thor!" Fishlegs shrunk back and cowered from the dragon. He closed his eyes and tried to brace himself for his certain doom. Which isn't an easy feat when you don't want to die.

But the burning sensation of one's flesh being dissolved never came. He heard a soft thunk and opened his eyes to see a small rock bounce off the side of the changewing's head.

"Hey you!" Snotlout shouted from behind the beast. "Yeah you with the ugly face! Come at me! What's that? Are you intimidated by my mighty vikingness? Come get me if you dare!"

To Snotlout's great dismay, the changewing did dare. It turned towards him and began to advance. Snotlout whimpered when it snarled at him. Realizing the danger he had put himself in, the teen took off in the other direction, screaming at the top of his lungs.

"I WANT MY MOMMY!"

As Snotlout unintentionally led the changewing away from his fallen friend, Fishlegs got up and brushed himself off. Once he was certain there weren't any more dragons about, he went back to the sleeping gronckle. From his saddle, he got the equipment necessary to retrieve the brittle sandstone. Fortunately, that particular mineral was common on Camouflage Island. And with the abundance of changewings, there was sure to be some that had been hit by acid.

With the changewing attack he had just been a part of, there was a lot of the stuff where Fishlegs already was. After retrieving his hammer and chisel, Fishlegs began chipping away at the ground where he stood. Soon he had a good number of big rock chunks to bring back to Berk. He put the rocks in Meatlug's saddlebag and offered her a few stones as a treat. He gave her an affectionate pat on the head before turning to the direction Snotlout and the changewing has disappeared.

Far in the distance, he could still hear Snotlout's screaming, accompanied by the sounds of an irate changewing. Fishlegs wasn't overly concerned. Snotlout had a surprising amount of luck at somehow surviving things, considering how many times he'd been struck by lightning. And with Hiccup's battle history, he supposed it must run in their family.

"I suppose we should help him, huh girl?"

The gronckle gave him a look of disappointment but allowed her rider to mount anyway. Fishlegs called out to Hookfang, and the trio flew in the direction of the screams.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh look, Snotlout got himself in trouble... nothing new there. And yes, I did just take an entire chapter to make fun of him.


	5. Scauldron Cove

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The twins finally arrive at their destination and are greeted by another reptilian predator.

Another hour of flight passed, thanks to a few more side trips to ease the twins' boredom. When they finally reached Scauldron Cove, the zippleback landed and the twins dropped from their mount to have a look around. The cove was a large lake surrounded by solid rock and cliffs around the perimeter. The only access to the open ocean was through a series of underwater caves, but of course, the twins had no way of knowing that.

"Are you sure this is the right place?" Ruff sneered. "This place is boring!"

"I know. There's not even anything to destroy!" Her brother agreed.

"So, why did Hiccup send us here?" Ruffnut looked to her brother for an answer, but soon realized she was asking the wrong person. In fact, she'd probably get a better answer from the rocks.

"I don't know. I think he wanted us to get something."

"Well if he wanted it, why couldn't he get it for himself?"

"Yeah!" Tuffnut agreed, "Why do we have to do his work?"

"Yeah!" Ruffnut agreed with his agreement.

With all their side trips and their ability to be distracted so easily, it's not surprising that they would forget the importance of their mission. But the fact that they even made it to their destination in one piece was a testament to something. But what, they would never know.

Tuffnut threw a rock into the lake. They watched, hypnotized, as ripples expanded from its splash zone. The young Viking was about to pick up another but stopped when he saw bubbles rising to the surface in the middle of the lake.

"What is that?" He asked as his eyes widened.

"I don't know, but I don't like it." Ruffnut declared, taking a few steps back from the ominous bubbles. "maybe you shouldn't throw any more rocks at it. I don't think it liked that."

Tuffnut shrugged and threw it anyway. He immediately regretted it as the massive, turquoise-colored head and neck of a Scauldron surged up from the water.

It gave no warning as it spewed a deluge of boiling water at them. They would have been boiled alive if their faithful zippleback hadn't been on the alert. Their dragon flew in and snatched them out of the path of the jet stream of lava-hot water.

Although the scales of a dragon make them impervious to heat, the force of the blast was strong enough to knock the two-headed dragon spiraling into the walls surrounding the cove.

Recovering from his shock, Tuff grabbed a nearby stick and hurled it at the Scauldron, but it fell short by a good bit. The Scauldron looked at the humans with a curious interest. It was obvious to the aquatic dragon that these two would be of little threat, if any at all.

Ruff and Tuff shrunk back as the Scauldron approached. They felt their backs bump up against the wall of the cliffs. As much as they loved to follow danger, they weren't exactly fans of the dread that usually followed.

"HEEEELP!" they cried.

The Scauldron turned its head as it heard a growl coming from behind it. Barf and Belch snarled a warning at the massive water dragon, bearing their fangs in a show of possessiveness. The young Vikings had no idea what was going on. They were just glad their dragon had taken initiative (not that either of them knew the word).

The Scauldron stopped in its tracks. Even though it was more than twice the size of the zippleback, it backed down. Everyone knew that a dragon protecting its young was not something to mess with. The zippleback made it clear to the Scauldron that these horned two-legged creatures were not up for grabs. Although the Scauldron could have likely won in the end, it wouldn't have been worth the gravity of the injuries it would have been sure to gain in the fray.

The Scauldron took a couple more steps back. What would this plucky little dragon do first? It could probably break the Scauldron's tail or wing. If that happened, death would be long and drawn out. With two heads, it was quite possible the zippleback could dispatch the Scauldron while it dealt with the other head. If that happened, both dragons would die together.

After careful consideration, the Scauldron made up its mind. These puny two-leggers weren't worth it.

Ruff and Tuff watched stunned as the Scauldron's menacing growl turned to a purr of submission, and it promptly turned and dove back into the lake.

Ruffnut shook herself out of her stupor first.

"Uhh…what just happened?"

"I dunno" replied Tuff, "but let's get out of here before it changes its mind and makes us dinner!"

"You don't get many good ideas, brother," Ruff commented. "But this one is great! Let's go!"

Tuff watched his sister climb into her saddle.

"I err…think it's time to check on Stormfly," Tuff said, trying to come up with an excuse to retreat back to Berk.

"STORMFLY! THAT'S IT!" Ruff shouted. "That's why we came here, to get those wide leafy things for Stormfly."

"Oh yeah!" Tuff's eyes widened, somewhat surprised that he remembered at all.

After a moment's thought, he knew what they should do.

"Okay, here's the plan," he told his sister. "First, we fly to the beach where the leaves will be. Second, we go swimming. Third, we-OW"

Tuffnut was cut off his sister backhanded him.

"Come on Tuff, this is serious. We will go to the beach, get the grass, and leave."

"Okay. If you think that will be more fun." Tuff replied.

Ruffnut rolled her eyes as Tuffnut climbed back into his saddle. Their dragon took off and they soon found themselves on one of the island's small beaches.

Back in the cove, the Scauldron swam through his underwater caves out to the open sea. Its initial anger had turned into curiosity as to what that zippleback and its two small creatures were up to.

As they dismounted, Tuff led his sister up the beach. They soon came across a large pile of rotting seagrass that had been pushed up by the waves.

"Phew! This stuff smells like Snotlout after a spicy meal!" Tuff remarked, stuffing the rotting vegetation in his pocket.

"What are you doing, pea brain? Hiccup told us to get fresh stuff."

Tuffnut turned to his sister, a devilish grin spread across his features. "Don't worry sis, this stuff isn't for Hiccup."

Whilst her brother prepared for his next prank, Ruff took off her shoes and waded in the shallows, shielding her eyes against the sun's glares. She soon found what she was looking for. With disgust, she reached down and grabbed a few handfuls of the plant Stormfly desperately needed. She turned back to shore and started walking back to her brother and their dragon.

"Ugh," she muttered. "This stuff looks like Astrid's Yak Nog."

She took one last look out to sea and froze at what she saw, almost dropping the sea-grass in her fright.

The Scauldron let out a loud roar.

"Not again!" She moaned.

Barf and Belch leaped over Ruffnut. The zippleback's heads remained calm as they recognized the latest roar as merely a greeting, with no intent of attack. But even so, it wouldn't do to let down their guard.

Barf looked back at Ruff and gave a comforting purr to the worried girl as she backed away in fear from the dragons. Ruffnut met the gaze of her dragon. His eyes were calm.

Even though she was frightened, she trusted her dragon completely. She took a couple of steps closer, curious as to what was happening. The Scauldron towered over the girl, who although quite frightened, held her ground. It lowered its head towards her.

"RUFFNUT! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?" Tuff called out. "RUN!"

Ruffnut ignored her brother and watched in awe as the giant reptile simply sniffed at the contents of her hands.

"I think this is the same Scauldron from the cove," Ruff called back to her brother.

"Didn't it try to attack us?" Tuff challenged.

"Yeah, but it stopped when-"

Before she could finish her thought, the water dragon roared at Barf and Belch once more and dove back into the ocean, sending up a splash that soaked Ruffnut.

"Great," she huffed.

"HA! You looked like a half-drowned yak!" Tuff teased. "Come on, let's get out of here before that thing returns and cook us after all."

Ruff had made it just two steps back to the shore when the giant sea dragon returned. It stretched its neck out of the water and opened its mouth.

"Oh crud," Ruff muttered. She stared into the cavernous canyon that was the creature's throat, her heart getting caught in her own. Behind her, she could hear her brother pleading for mercy from Odin and Thor.

Barf and Belch made no move against the Scauldron, so Ruffnut figured that there was no hope. This was where she would die.

The Scauldron tilted its head forward and dropped a very large pile of fresh Wide Leaved Sea Grass over the teen's head. It didn't smell intoxicating like the stuff Tuff got for his prank, nor did it look intoxicating like the stuff Ruff found. No, the leaves the Scauldron brought were the fully grown plants, notoriously famous for destroying countless Viking Armadas.

"Quick, fill the saddlebags!" Ruff called to her brother. In no time at all, the saddlebags were past overflowing.

As they climbed into their saddles, Ruff could not help but look back at the huge creature that had tried to kill them not too long ago. Gathering up her courage, she walked back to the shallows, ignoring her brother's protests. The Scauldron lowered its head as she reached out to it. She stroked his head and kissed his scaly nose.

"Thank you," she whispered. Slowly, she released the dragon and returned to her own.

"Hey," Tuff called as his sister approached, "Do you think that could have been Scauldy?"

"No." Ruffnut would have recognized her scaly friend anywhere. "This one is much bigger than Scauldy, and also a slightly different color."

"So now you know two Scauldrons?" Tuff was in awe.

"Yeah, I suppose I do." Ruff grinned. "So this means you will think twice before that rotten stuff anywhere near me…unless you want to be boiled alive."

She laughed as Tuffnut shrunk back, eyes full of guilt.

"I am the Scauldron Queen!" Ruff shouted triumphantly as they took to the skies.

The Scauldron watched them leave. Those two-leggers, who were apparently called Vikings, weren't that bad after all. Hopefully, the nice one will come and visit. As long as she leaves the obnoxious one behind of course.


	6. Old Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Upon coming to, Hiccup is brought to officially meet his captor. With Toothless's life on the line, he needs to figure out how to send for help fast.

The floor pitched and heaved as Hiccup slowly awoke from his forced slumber, leading him to assume he was on a boat. As he regained his senses, he found himself lying on a filthy stone floor, and he realized the swaying motion was all in his head.

It was dark, and he couldn't see much. He reached for his satchel to get a flint and candle, only to discover that he no longer had his satchel.

"Great," he muttered, "They took my satchel and the blossoms with it." He sat back and awaited his fate, hoping somehow that Toothless had gotten away. There was no telling what these captors would do to a Night Fury.

A short while later, he heard the approach of footsteps and saw the light of a flame drawing near. The Viking holding the torch unlocked Hiccup's cage and motioned for him to follow. Dizzily, Hiccup stood up.

"Where are you taking me?" he asked.

"The chief would like to speak to you now."

Hiccup followed silently, trying to remember exactly who it was who had captured him. It was all a little fuzzy, and the persistent headache wasn't helping.

The guard led him past many cells. Hiccup looked in each one and felt a bit of relief when he saw no sign of Toothless. Maybe he did get away after all.

Before long, they arrived at their destination. They entered a room almost as big as Berk's Great Hall, and Hiccup could see bits of light coming between the cracks in the stone walls. From the position of the light, he surmised it was about noon, but of which day?

Hiccup saw a rugged looking Viking pacing the floor by the fire, muttering indiscernibly to himself. Looking up, the man grinned when he saw Hiccup.

"Leave us." The man motioned to the guard, who bowed low and left without another word.

Turning back to Hiccup, the man smiled in a not so nice way.

"It's been a long time, Brother."

"What do you want, Dagur?"

The Berserker chief chuckled at Hiccup's pitiful attempts at sounding intimidating.

"It's not what I want, it's what you want."

"What would that be?" Hiccup asked skeptically. Words like that usually led to blackmail or bribery. Nothing could ever came of it.

"You want for your Night Fury to live, don't you?" Dagur replied.

"Toothless!" Hiccup gasped in fear and shock. "What have you done to him?"

Dague cackled at his obvious panic. "I have done anything to him…yet. And whether or not I kill the beast depends on you, Hiccup."

"You were never one to bargain, Dagur." HIccup leveled his voice. Panic would get him nowhere. "You always just take what you want and kill when you wish. So what do you want?"

"I want answers, Hiccup" he snarled. "I want to know all about you and your dragons. But first, I'll want to know what you were doing on the Berserkers' Forward Base Island and what the flowers were for. Where are your friends? I don't want any of them trying to save you before we have a chance to…chat."

Hiccup thought fast. He knew he couldn't tell Dagur about Stormfly and the disease. He also knew that Dagur would do something quite violent if he suspected an outright lie.

"Firstly," the teen began, "On Berk, we call this place 'Lava Flow Island'. Secondly, none of my friends are here; I came alone because I wanted to get the flowers for Astrid." That was close enough to the truth.

"You traveled all the way here… for a girl? I didn't know you were the ladies' man, Hiccup." The Berserker chief paused and looked Hiccup over. "Though I'm not sure what they see in you."

Hiccup decided it would be best not to reply to that comment. Dagur gave him another look over from head to toe before deciding that he really didn't care about Hiccup's love life.

"Anyway, Brother, I will let your dragon live, if the two of you do as I command."

Hiccup knew he couldn't get out of this situation easily. He needed backup. He had to send for help. Dagur would never let him do that, so he'd have to try another tactic.

"Fine. I'll help…on one condition."

"But Hiccup, you just said I wasn't one for bargaining!" Dagur exclaimed. From the glint in his eye, he was enjoying this exchange all the same. "Though out of curiosity, what is your condition?"

"I want to send the flowers back to Astrid. It would be a shame if she never got them." Hiccup piled the desperation thick. He had to sound like a lovesick fool for this to work. "If you let me do that, I will even write her a note saying that I will be gone a while. That way she and the others won't get suspicious and come looking for me."

Better to let Dagur think Hiccup was doing him a favor, rather than the other way around.

"Very well. You can send a note to your precious Astrid, but I will watch you and read it to make sure you don't send for help."

"Thank you, Dagur. You won't regret this. Can I see my satchel to get the flowers and some ink and parchment?"

Dagur reached into the drawer of a nearby desk and pulled out Hiccup's satchel. He took out the Dragonwood blossoms, parchment, and some writing utensils, tossing them to the dragon rider.

Hiccup sat at the desk and began writing the letter. When he was finished he handed it to Dagur. When the Berserker was satisfied, Hiccup headed towards the door.

"Where do think you're going, brother?"

"Why, to find an airmail carrier of course." Hiccup smiled in a way that made Dagur squirm.

Dagur watched in fascination as Hiccup called to the nearest Terrible Terror. The little dragon flew towards him and perched on his arm. Hiccup took the note and the small satchel of flowers and tied them to the Terror's legs.

At Fishlegs' insistence, the riders had trained all the Terrible Terrors in the Archipelago to carry small parcels back and forth. At the time, Hiccup had thought training them on every island was a little extensive. Now, he found he was quite grateful towards the stocky teen.

"Go find Astrid." He told the small dragon. He tossed it lightly into the air and watched as it set its course for Berk.

Dagur was silent as he watched the small dragon fly towards Berk.

"This is why you're here Hiccup, so I can control the dragons." Dagur smiled wide and began his maniacal laughing again.

Hiccup's whole body shivered and his neck hairs bristled as he stood there hoping the Terror could find Astrid. He needed help soon; they didn't call this guy 'Deranged' for nothing.


	7. The Changewing Nest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Having successfully procured the sandstone, Fishlegs and the dragons follow the sounds of Snotlout's screams. As much as he really doesn't want to, Fishlegs knows they should save him.

Fishlegs and the two dragons flew towards the sound of constant girlish screaming that could only come from Snotlout. They heard him release a final bloodcurdling screech, then all was silent save for the steady beat of Hookfang's wings and the soft hum of Meatlug's.

"That can't be good," muttered Fishlegs. He urged the dragons to pick up their speed and they rushed in the direction of Snotlout's last sounds.

As they flew over a small mountain, Fishlegs saw something glimmering on the peak below. He angled the dragons down to investigate. They landed atop the mountain, and Fishlegs walked towards the shiny object. It was Snotlout's helmet. Hookfang sniffed at it and whimpered at the realization of what it was.

"Don't worry, we'll find him." Fishlegs stroked the nightmares snout in an attempt to comfort him. "If only we had a dragon in the tracker class."

The monstrous nightmare didn't seem to care about Fishlegs musings, running off on his own in a certain direction. You didn't need a tracker class for this. Any dragon with a working nose would be able to pick up the scent of his boy.

"Hookfang! Wait up!" Fishlegs grumbled at the impetuousness of boy and dragon alike as he did his best to keep up.

Hookfang led the boy and Meatlug to an ominous cave entrance just below the crest of the mountain. Fishlegs shivered as he reached for the torch in his saddlebag. He retrieved his flint his flint with shaky hands.

It was only after several failed attempts at lighting it that he remembered he had some fire breathing friends that could help.

"Hookfang, if you would?"

Holding the lit torch above his head he and his fellow rescuers cautiously entered the cave.

They had not been traveling long when they found themselves at what appeared to be an intersection. They were surrounded by countless tunnels - well, countless to a Viking with his shoes on - all of which were leading deep into the mountain.

"This will take forever!' Fishlegs whined. "We know he's down one of these tunnels…but which one?"

He was broken from his contemplation as the fiery beast began roaring down each of the tunnels. He would roar into the mouth of one and then wait for a few seconds, letting the echo reverberate back to him, much like a night fury in the dark.

Unfortunately, the echo was bringing with it the sound of dozens of angry changewings.

"What are you doing Hookfang!?" Fishlegs no longer had any doubts as to whether or not this dragon was as reckless as its rider. "You're going to get us killed!"

At the seventeenth tunnel, the echo brought with it a new sound; the sound of whimpering and whining.

"He's down this one!" Fishlegs exclaimed. In his excitement, he had temporarily forgotten the approaching danger. That is, he forgot until a gelatinous ball of acid flew past his head.

Two dragons and one very frightened Viking raced down the tunnel leading them with the sounds of Snotlout's whines.

At the end of the tunnel, they found themselves in a vast cavern. Its size was greater than those of the Great Hall and training academy combined. From the torch he was holding and the torchlight reflecting off the dragons at his side, Fishlegs saw that the walls and floor of the cavern were glistening like rich ebony; as black as the scales of a Night Fury.

In the center of the cavern, sat a Viking, trembling in fear. Fishlegs took pleasure in noticing that said Viking was crying a little. Of course, he would never tell. He pitied Snotlout (for that was indeed who the weepy Viking was) because he knew the teen had worked hard on his 'tough guy' act.

There was also the fact that Snotlout would pound him to a pulp if he ever said anything.

Fishlegs started towards his friend but was roughly knocked to the side as Hookfang charged towards his rider. Snotlout looked up as the Nightmare charged towards him.

"Hookfang! I knew you would come for me!" he cried in joy. The Nightmare stood on his chest and licked his face.

"Umm, I'd be careful if I were you," Fishlegs warned. "Nightmare saliva is very flammable."

Naturally, Snotlout paid him no mind. He was far too excited to have Hookfang back.

His joy was short-lived, however, as hundreds of changewings flocked into the tunnel. Upon seeing the small Vikings and their dragons, the wild changewings camouflaged themselves to blend in with the onyx walls of the cavern. All around them, Fishlegs and Snotlout could hear the beat of wings and the hissing growls.

"I'm too pretty to die!" Snotlout screamed.

Despite his own fears, Fishlegs still felt sorry for the pitiful Jorgenson cowering in front of him. He wished Hiccup was there. He would know what to do. But Hiccup was far away getting another ingredient. That meant it was up to Fishlegs to save them, and he didn't plan on letting anyone down.

Time was not on Fishlegs' side. Glancing rapidly around, he was struck by a sudden moment of inspiration: he would use camouflage against the camouflaging dragons.

He doused the flame of his torch and dragged Snotlout in the general direction of the tunnel he thought he had come from. He knew that even a dragon couldn't see too well in complete darkness and could only hope it was enough to cover their escape.

"Hey! I can't see!" Snotlout shouted.

"If it's dark, they can't see us. If they can't see us, they can't kill us." Fishlegs whispered. "But they can hear us. And unless you wish to be changewing chow, I suggest you keep quiet and run!"

When they reached the other side of the cavern, Fishlegs felt his way along the wall until he found the tunnel entrance. Dragging a frightened Snotlout behind him, he started running. From the approaching cries of anger and contempt, he guessed that the changewings had gotten their bearings and were now chasing them.

A ways ahead, Fishlegs could see a patch of light growing slowly bigger and brighter.

"It's the end of the tunnel!" he cried out excitedly.

He pushed Snotlout ahead of him, and the teens ran out into the blinding daylight. Before their eyes had a chance to adjust to the light, the teens found themselves hurtling off the mountaintop, accelerating towards the jagged rocks below.

At times like this, it can truly be said that a Viking's best friend is his dragon. Meatlug and Hookfang dove off the cliff behind them and caught the two firmly, but gently in their powerful jaws before they could fall to their deaths.

Looking behind, Fishlegs watched as all the changewings swarmed out of the mountain. Sensing the danger, Hookfang and Meatlug took to the skies. Having nowhere to hide, the changewings soon gave up the chase and returned to the mountain.

"Ha!" Snotlout jeered. "Go back to your cave! That's what you get for messing with the Snot-man! Ha-ha! Snotlout! Snotlout! Oi! Oi! Oi!"

Fishlegs shook his head and smiled. He would let Snotlout have his fun. That arrogant Viking would just embellish the tale later anyway, making him sound like a hero or something. Fishlegs would be able to set the record straight (and no one, especially Astrid, believed Snotlout's tales of extraordinary bravery anyway). But first, they had to get back to Berk, for Stormfly's sake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've realized that I must like throwing characters off cliffs. It's the second time I've done it in this story.


	8. The Letter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Back on Berk, Astrid is getting restless. Everyone should have returned by now. When she receives a suspiciously vague letter, it does little to ease her concerns.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Somehow the chapters got all out of order. Sorry about that. It should all be fixed now.

To say Astrid was worried would have been like saying the Red Death was "kind of big." There was no way she would ever admit it, though.

Snotlout, Fishlegs, and the twins had returned hours ago with their parts of the cure, but Hiccup and Toothless were still nowhere to be seen. Even though she had a biased love for Nadders, Astrid knew that Toothless was the fastest dragon she had ever met.

They definitely should have returned by now, right? Her concern for both her beloved dragon and her missing friends grew with her agitation until she felt as though she was ready to explode from too much frustration.

Not even Fishlegs knew how long Stormfly had left, and the twins' speculations about Hiccup getting eaten by the screaming death, though quite inconceivable, did not help her mood either. She was ready to break. (If not emotionally break down, then break anything and everything that crosses her path.)

As it was, Astrid had taken to a relaxing walk through the woods. For her, that meant brandishing her axe and slaughtering any trees that looked at her funny. It was probably safer for her friends and the people of Berk that way.

"That boy had better get back here soon," Astrid growled. She clenched her jaw tighter as she lopped off another branch. "If that fish-bone knows what's good for him he'll head straight back to Berk."

If he'd been sidetracked by some fascinating new dragon or something else as trivial, she would be sure to knock the one-legged teen straight to next Snoggletog. And then give him a good lecture when he came to.

She snarled at an unfortunate oak as she watched her axe embed itself into its heavily scarred trunk. "If Stormfly doesn't make it I'll…I'll…."

Astrid collapsed on a nearby stump, all rage and fire drained from her form. She didn't know what she would do without Stormfly. She couldn't imagine life without her beloved Nadder, and honestly, she didn't want to. Ever since the Red Death, Stormfly had always been at her side.

"Odin, help me," She muttered.

She hated worrying. She was Astrid Hofferson. Hoffersons didn't worry about anything! They took action. Unfortunately, there was nothing for her to do but worry. And if Hiccup didn't return soon, her best friend would perish.

"Please hurry Hiccup," She pleaded to the clouds.

Suddenly, as if in answer to her quiet plea, she heard a soft squawking. Looking around, she spotted a small dragon flying towards her. After a moment's surprise, she recognized it as a Terrible Terror, and it was carrying something.

The Terror landed at her feet and licked its eyeball in a way that only a terror could make endearing. Reaching down, she gave it a pat on the head before carefully untying the bundle. FInding the attached note, she pulled that out first and carefully opened it up and read it over.

_Dearest Astrid,_

_Toothless and I may or may not have accidentally crash-landed on an island. I am well, but Toothless's wing is slightly injured. We have run into an old friend and we will be staying here with him for a while, but I wanted to make sure you wouldn't worry, and I wanted to send you something to show you how much I care. In the satchel, you will find some flowers I am sure you will be glad to have. I send my heart along with them. I am sorry I cannot be there with you right now. Do not be concerned about me or Toothless, we are just fine. Stay on Berk and watch after the others. I will be back as soon as I am able._

_Your dearest friend and fellow Rider,  
Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III_

_P.S.: Please keep the twins away from the explosives!_

Astrid reread the letter with more than a little surprise. It was definitely written in Hiccup's hand, but it did not sound like his words. It was true she would often see him out of the corner of her eye watching her with something that showed a little more than friendship, but he never said anything about it so...

And who on earth was this Old Friend? The only one she could think of was Heather, but Hiccup had written 'him'. Besides, he would have specified if it was her. And all their other old friends lived on Berk…unless…Astrid's heart skipped a beat; Hiccup must have been captured!

She opened the package and couldn't help but smile when she saw the Dragonwood blossoms. Typical Hiccup; No matter what dire situation he was in, he always found a way to help those who needed it.

Astrid tore her axe from the tree and ran back to the village. She had a Nadder to cure, and after that, a certain Viking and his Night Fury to rescue.

Gods she was ready to kill him!


	9. Organizing a Rescue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Certain Hiccup is in trouble, Astrid tries to convince the other riders to help. If all was right in the world, he would have been there to deal with their stupidity, and it wouldn't be her problem...

Frustration boiled in Astrid's gut. Why couldn't these disastrous problems happen one at a time? Why did they all have to pile up when she was in charge? It didn't seem fair.

Hiccup only had to worry about curing Stormfly, and he had herself and Fishlegs to advise him. Now she had to finish the job with Stormfly, find out the truth behind the mysterious letter, and rescue Hiccup. It was true, she did have Fishlegs' help, but she also had to keep Ruff, Tuff, and Snotlout out of trouble; the most difficult task of all.

She made it back to the village in record time and was panting like a yak by the time she reached the elder's hut. She handed the blossoms to Gothi, who had been placed in charge of brewing the Nadder Lethargy Syndrome cure for Stormfly.

After stopping at the academy to visit her Nadder, Astrid ran the rest of the way to the Great Hall to find the other riders.

Locating their table in the corner, she marched up to them and slammed her axe on to the table, successfully gaining their attention.

"Guys, we have a serious problem." She told them sternly.

"Did we run out of explosives again?" Tuffnut asked with a horrified expression on his face. "I knew we should have kept a bigger stockpile of Zippleback gas and Nightmare sweat!"

"This is one of those rare occasions when my brother is right," his sister interjected. "Last time we ran out, we had to wait three hours for Hiccup to make more. THREE HOURS!"

"Hold on a minute," Fishlegs huffed. "It isn't easy to get the ingredients needed from wild dragons."

"Who needs wild dragons when you have a trained Nightmare and Zippleback right here on Berk?" Snotlout pointed out.

"Two dragons that were trained, if you could call it that, by you and the twins?" Fishlegs scoffed indignantly. "I'd rather take my chances with the wild dragons thank you very much."

"ARE YOU SAYING MY DRAGON ISN'T PROPERLY TRAINED?!" Snotlout bellowed.

"SHUT UP. THE LOT OF YOU!" Astrid reached for her axe but thought better of it. They weren't worth the effort, and she hated the thought of having to explain to Hiccup why all their friends were gravely wounded.

"Temper, Temper," Snotlout said, shaking his head sadly. Apparently, he wasn't fully aware of the precarious edge his life was hanging on at the moment.

"No we did not run out of explosives," Astrid rolled her eyes and grit her teeth. "And frankly, you two shouldn't have been anywhere near the explosives. You two are the reason we ran out last time. The real problem is-"

"Astrid, sweetie, finally realizing how awesome I am is not a problem," Snotlout interrupted, stretching an arm around Astrid's shoulders. "The real problem is that you are not dating me yet."

Astrid gagged and tried not to vomit. She threw her elbow into his gut with all the force she could muster without breaking his ribs. He deserved it, but she knew he was needed in rescuing Hiccup. She could snap his bones later.

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that," she warned. "Otherwise you'd be in a lot more pain."

Snotlout clutched his stomach and sat down in defeat. "Understood," he moaned.

"So what is the problem?" Fishlegs asked, getting the group back on topic. "Is it Stormfly?"

"No, she's fine...I hope… Gothi has all the ingredients now, so I think she's fine… It's Hiccup." Astrid took out the letter. Looking around at her friends, she took a deep breath and read the letter aloud, making sure to leave out the Dearest Astrid and any other possibly embarrassing parts.

"What do you think it means?" Fishlegs asked when she finished reading. He held out his hand, and Astrid reluctantly handed him the letter. His eyebrows raised in amusement when he saw the parts Astrid had omitted, but said nothing as he could feel Astrid's warning glare. Instead, he began to consider its contents and various possible meanings.

"I'm not sure what it means," Astrid admitted. "He says he met up with an old friend, but whom? All his friends are here on Berk."

"Maybe he has a girlfriend," Snotlout jeered, earning him another punch, this time to the face.

"What wath dat for?!" He whimpered, cradling his sore face.

"Take a guess." Astrid wiped his blood off her hand leveled a glare at any passing onlookers.

The entire village knew Snotlout just needed a good lesson every now and then. Often times it was Astrid who taught him such lessons. They knew by now not to get involved.

"I think he's in trouble," she said, turning back to the matter at hand. "Why else would he be so secretive? Shouldn't he at least have given us a name?"

"You're paranoid Astrid." Snotlout panted, (but it came out more like 'Dour pawanoy Athtwid' as he was still in serious pain from the shield maiden's blows). "I'm sure he's fine. Besides, he has Toothless."

"I know, but something's going on and I need you four to get to the bottom of it."

"Why us?" whined Tuffnut. "Why can't you go? You didn't go on the last mission! It was your dragon!"

"Exactly. And I'm sending you because my dragon still can't fly anywhere right now. And Hiccup was right; Stormfly needs me here and Hiccup needs you there."

"Why should we listen to you anyway?" Snotlout whimpered as he rubbed his bruises and wiped a small amount of blood from his face.

"Don't you recall, Snottykins?" Astrid smiled at him with a dangerous sweetenss. "Hiccup said that I was second in command of the academy, therefore, I am currently in charge….Do you have a problem with that?"

Despite the smile, her tone was one that clearly declared 'I hope you do have a problem with it so I can teach you another lesson.'

Snotlout shook his head vigorously.

"Besides," she continued. "Hiccup told you not to come, right?"

The other riders nodded slowly, unsure as to where she was headed with this.

"And I know how much you guys love to blatantly disobey what he says."

"She has a point," Ruff noted.

"We do enjoy our daily minor mutinies," her brother agreed.

"Okay, you've convinced us," said Snotlout.

"Okay, here's the plan," Astrid said, secretly relieved that they had agreed to go. "The four of you will go to Lava Flow Island. That was where Hiccup was headed to get the Dragonwood Blossoms. When you get there, be careful; Hiccup and I never had enough time to finish exploring it…best to start on the western side of the island. Just find Hiccup and see what's up…and don't get yourselves into trouble."

"Aww, but that ruins all the fun," Ruff whined.

"Sorry to ruin your fun Ruff," Astrid told her friend, not really sorry at all. "But this is a stealth mission. You have to be careful. Maybe when you report back, there will be an opportunity for some good ol' Thorston mayhem."

"Don't worry Astrid," Fishlegs piped up. "We'll find them."

"I-I'm not worried," Astrid exclaimed in defense. "But can I trust you to be in charge of this mission?"

"M-me?" Fishlegs stammered. "I-I'd be honored! I won't let you down!"

"You mean we have to listen to Fish-face?!" Snotlout bellowed in disbelief.

"Yes," Astrid replied coolly and picked up her weapon of choice from the table. "And if I hear a word that any of you gave him a hard time, my axe and I will have something to say about it…Clear?"

Snotlout gulped and stepped back. He knew Astrid never made empty threats, and for once, he listened to his better judgment.

Turning to Fishlegs, Snotlout decided he better make up for his mistake. "So when do we leave, O Great and Mighty leader?" he asked.

Ignoring Snotlout's sarcasm, Fishlegs thought for a moment before answering.

"It's too dark now…so we will leave just before dawn tomorrow morning so we can get to Lava Flow Island before noon."

"So it's settled," Astrid concluded. "Fishlegs is in charge. You will all help find Hiccup and Toothless and find out what's up. Think it through before you take any action. Good Luck."

Astrid swung her axe over her shoulder and left the Great Hall to check on Stormfly and murder some more trees. Her thoughts turned towards Hiccup and Toothless as the other riders watched her go.

"Did we seriously just get sent on another mission racing across the archipelago?" Ruff asked her brother once Astrid had left.

"Yep."

"And Fishlegs is in charge?"

"Yep."

"Are you going to eat that?"

"DON'T TOUCH MY CHICKEN LEG!"

"You're one giant chicken leg," Ruffnut told him.

"Mmmm…I'd love a giant chicken leg. Spit-roasted, with gravy…" Tuffnut sighed as he dreamed of his perfect chicken leg.

Snotlout groaned.

"Could this day get any worse?"

"Technically, anything can get worse. Like when you-"

"Can it, Fishlegs." Snotlout warned. "You're not in charge until tomorrow…assuming you live that long."

Fishlegs whimpered and scampered out of the Hall. He had a lot to do if he were to lead these hooligans on a mission tomorrow. And he wasn't calling them that because of their tribe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After tomorrow, my daily posting will become less frequent. I'll still get the chapters out as often as I can, but I can't promise every morning.


	10. The Start of a Rescue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fishlegs, Snotlout, and the Twins set out for Lava Flow island. Naturally, it's not all smooth sailing. But for once, it wasn't the twins' fault.

The following morning found four teens and three dragons in the air on their way to Lava Flow Island. Everyone had kept to themselves for the first stretch.

Snotlout, who was not a morning person, had been dozing off in his saddle. Ruff was looking into the ocean for any sign of her Scauldron friends and her brother was making faces at his reflection. Fishlegs was still trying to get over the fact that he was in charge. He was excited, yet at the same time nervous. What if he failed? What if he couldn't find Hiccup? What would Astrid say? What would Stoick say?

He was brought back to reality from his distant thoughts as Tuffnut ran out of faces and decided it was a good time to start whining.

"Are we there yet? My butt hurts!"

"Tuffnut, we've flown much farther than this before," Fishlegs said, exasperated. "Your butt should be fine!"

"No, it shouldn't!" Tuff retorted. "You try sitting in this saddle after having Ruff kick your rear-end over and over."

"To be fair, you did ask," Ruff explained.

"No, I didn't! I asked for help getting my helmet off the top shelf," he protested. "You could have passed me a chair to stand on."

"Why would I do that when making you fly with my boot is much more fun?" she grinned broadly.

Tuffnut pondered this for a brief moment.

"I suppose you're right," he conceded. "But next time I get to kick you."

"You think Ruff hits hard?" Snotlout exclaimed. "My beautiful face still hurts from when Astrid punched me last night!"

"It doesn't look too beautiful now!" Tuff said as he pointed at Snotlout's bruised eye. "It's all purple and puffy!"

"Well…what do you know? You're just a..a..a"

"You're right!" Ruff said. "Tuff is an 'ah ah'!"

The twins cackle at Snotlout and his pathetic vocabulary. Though, to be fair, theirs probably wasn't much better.

"Guys, knock it off." Fishlegs intervened. "This is a stealth mission. Keep quiet."

"Who says it's a stealth mission?" Snotlout challenged. "And who put you in charge?"

"Astrid, and…Astrid."

"Oh, right." With that reminder, Snotlout decided he had better keep quiet from then on.

"Now then," said Fishlegs, trying to sound important, "We must be quiet because we are about to fly over Outcast Island-"

"Ooh! Can we stop and say 'hi' to Alvin by setting fire to his house?" Tuff interjected.

"Of course not!" Fishlegs was shocked by the sheer audacity of Tuffnut's question. "Alvin would kill us as soon as he saw us! Besides, if we risk getting captured, we also risk the mission as well."

"Oh, so we can visit him?!"

"Didn't I just say no?"

"No, you said 'of course not'" Ruff pointed out. "There's a big difference."

Fishlegs sighed. "Whatever. Let me be clear on this then. We are not going to visit the outcasts. No, nix, niet, qo, nein, hakuna, ie, non! It's too dangerous."

"Great Thor, you sound just like Hiccup." Snotlout complained.

"Good, I'll take that as a compliment," countered Fishlegs. "That means I'm doing my job right!"

"If Astrid hadn't given you this job I would be in charge."

"No, you wouldn't. The only reason Astrid gave me the job is because the rest of you are too incompetent. If I didn't get the job it would be because Hiccup was here. But he's not and Astrid is grounded!"

Fishlegs knew he was getting a little harsh and somewhat abusive, and he felt a little ashamed of himself. But he felt most strongly that he had put up with the others complaining and snide remarks long enough. It was time to get tough. If only until Hiccup was back, Stormyfly was okay, and the balance of power was returned to normal.

"So you're out-ranked by a girl! How pathetic!" Snotlout sneered.

"Yeah, well you're ranked under me!" Fishlegs shot back.

Ruff and Tuff watched the two of them banter back and forth with a mix of confusion and delight.

"This is pretty fun to watch," Ruff noted.

"I know!" her brother agreed. "It's like watching us fight, but cooler because we can actually see them!"

Ruff rolled her eyes and was about to reply, but before she could say anything a large boulder flew by her head.

"Whoa!" she cried.

Looking down, she saw about twelve burly Vikings standing by several loaded catapults. She watched as they began launching more boulders at the riders.

"This isn't good." She muttered. She turned towards the other dragon riders and sighed as she saw they were still arguing about their leadership skills (or lack thereof).

"Hey, Tuff! We need to warn the others!"

"Okay. Leave it to me, sis."

Tuffnut reached into his saddlebag and produced what appeared to a small rock.

"What's that?" his sister queried.

"A small rock," he replied confidently.

Tuffnut threw the rock at the squabbling riders. It hit Fishlegs square in the head before tumbling down into the sea below.

"Ow! What was that for?" the stocky teen whined.

"As much as we love a good fight, now's not the time."

"And why's that, Tuff?" Snotlout asked.

Tuffnut pointed down.

"Because there's a bunch of angry guys trying to shoot us out of the sky." He stated matter-of-factly.

Fishlegs looked to where he was pointing.

"Outcasts! I warned you about this." He scolded. "Come on, let's get out of here!"

Fortunately, they were high enough and were able to dodge the flying boulders and didn't get hit, but there were a few close calls.

Gaining even more altitude, they passed over Outcast Island, and soon reached their destination of Lava Flow Island without many more difficulties.

When they got there, Fishlegs motioned to the others to land quietly on the western shore.

"Hiccup came here to get the Dragonwood blossoms," he explained. "We'll split up to cover more ground. Look for any clues. If you find anything, let out a dragon call."

He sent the twins and their dragon to the north. Snotlout and Hookfang headed south while he and Meatlug went east towards the center of the island and the peak of the volcanic mountain.

As they wandered in their respective directions, they all failed to notice a pair of hidden eyes watching them.


	11. The Stranger in the Bush

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A young Berserker Scout watches as the Dragon Riders disperse across the island. When word gets back to Dagur, he becomes irate. Hiccup can't say he's disappointed.

These days it was difficult for the Dragon Riders of Berk not to think of all members of the Berserker tribe as being nothing more than crazed and unreasonable warriors like their appropriately named leader, Dagur the Deranged. The Berkians however felt the same under the previous leadership of Dagur's late father, Oswald the Agreeable who had greatly raised the status of the Berserker tribe within the archipelago by being a strong leader and a loyal ally, even though they never went to war.

Simon the Slow watched intently as the Dragon Riders departed in three different directions. He did not realize how lucky he was that Astrid and Stormfly were not present or he surely would have been found in his hiding place behind the bushes. As a skilled Berserker Scout, a young man like Simon should have been highly valued in the tribe, but his commanding officers, and pretty much every other Berserker on the island treated him with a great deal of disrespect thanks entirely to the nickname Dagur had unfairly imposed on him.

It had been Simon's task to explore the central part of the Lava Flow Island back when Dagur had first decided to build an outpost there. He had done his job well, keeping clear of any dragons and finding the perfect cave for the hidden base to be built, but his impatient chief had derided the young man for taking too long and given him the title that would follow him for the rest of his life.

Like the other Berserkers, he had heard tales of the awesome 'Dragon Conqueror' who hailed from Berk. And like the others, he thought they were simply that: stories made up by the Berkians to instill fear in their enemies.

But then came the fateful day Dagur had gone to Berk with the Berserker fleet to sign the peace treaty. When they returned to Berserker Island, the warriors who went with Dagur said there had been a Night Fury and it almost killed Dagur, but the son of Stoick the vast had stepped in and saved him.

Simon thought back to the thin young man who was languishing in a holding cell back at the hidden base. Surely this child could not be the famed Dragon Conqueror; he couldn't possibly be the son of Stoick the Vast! No, this kid, this weed of a boy, was only a walking fishbone! (A common insult for late developers all over the archipelago)

Then again, there was the night fury. Simon remembered researching night furies out of curiosity after listening to the stories of the senior warriors. All accounts claimed that they only came out at night. But Dagur was attacked by one in broad daylight, so the dragon would not have had any hope of being hidden with its onyx scales. Now there was one of those mighty beasts right here at the outpost! And what's more, there were four more riders and three saddled dragons on the island. They were probably here to rescue the son of Stoick and his Night Fury.

Simon the Slow had done his best for Dagur just so he would be allowed to stay and work at this outpost. He was the youngest Viking on the island (not counting the Berkians, of course) and if he wanted to keep the little respect he had remaining, he knew he would have to do something big…

But what? He should probably tell Dagur what he'd seen, but their leader really was truly deranged and no one could know precisely when he would overreact in his madness. On the other hand, if he didn't tell Dagur, their unbalanced but mighty chief would surely find out eventually and Simon could be hanged for treason… or worse.

After much careful consideration, the young Berserker crept away from his hideout. He would tell one of his commanding officers and let him take the risk of telling Dagur the news.

~~~~~ 

A short time later, back at the Berserker Outpost, Hiccup looked up as their chief stormed into the room. He barely had time to drop to the floor as one of Dagur's knives flew towards his head with great speed and accuracy.

"YOU TOLD ME YOU WERE ALONE!" the Berserker fumed. "You said that your pathetic friends stayed at home!"

"First of all, my friends are not pathetic," Hiccup replied calmly, dusting the dust off his front as he picked himself up off the floor. "And secondly, I did come alone."

"Then how come one of my officers just informed me that one of our scouts has just seen your friends on this island? I was so ANGRY… I had him thrown into the deepest pit we've got. I was going to throw him into the volcano…"

"But that's impossible!" Hiccup said, pretending to be shocked. Mentally, he cheered. If the riders were here, that meant they got the note and the blossoms. With any luck, they had made it there in time and Stormfly was okay. He just hoped Astrid had stayed back on Berk with her dragon.

"Impossible or not, there are more Berkians on this island. If they find you, all my chances of becoming the Dragon King go down the drain!"

Hiccup mentally groaned. What was it with all his enemies? They all seemed to want nothing more than a huge dragon army to pillage and conqueror with. Was there no creativity in the world of evil madmen anymore?

"They probably just decided to…" Hiccup searched for an excuse. "Come and have a picnic… or err… something?"

Somehow, the Berserker accepted the strange tale. He nodded thoughtfully, but the glare of fury never left his face.

"So what are you going to do to them?" Hiccup asked his captor nervously.

"Nothing yet," Dagur sneered. "But since we can't have them finding you…We will just have to relocate you."

Dagur motioned behind Hiccup, and he turned around just in time to see a large Viking wielding a large bludgeon that came crashing down on his not-so-large head.

Why doesn't anyone simply use blindfolds anymore? He thought as darkness overtook him once again.


	12. Warm Interrogations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Hiccup awakens in the new location, Dagur has a few choice words for him. It wouldn't be too bad, if only Dagur would tell him what was up with Toothless.

Hiccup groaned in pain as he regained consciousness. 

Seriously, did they need to knock him out? Who would he tell about the location of the hideout? The only people around here already knew where it was!

He groaned again and shook his head in an attempt to clear his vision and regain his bearings.

He found himself sitting against a wall in a large cavern of sorts. In the dim torchlight, Hiccup could make out the shapes of two guards who were playing cards at a small table placed against the far wall.

He was shocked by the cave's climate; it wasn't cold and damp as one would expect of a cave. Instead, it was surprisingly warm and dry. If he had to guess, Hiccup would say this new hideout was located somewhere inside the volcano of Lava Flow Island.

Hiccup stretched and was surprised to feel a slight tug on his leg and hear the soft clanking of metal. Looking down, he saw that he was chained to the wall. Apparently, someone thought he would try to escape…and they were right.

He thought back to what Dagur had said before they relocated; Dragon Riders had been spotted on the island. Hiccup realized his friends didn't know he was in captivity, even though there was a good chance they had considered it as a possibility. He figured they were probably being unwittingly tracked around the island. Maybe the guards would have more information.

"Excuse me," he called out to them.

The guards jumped, and the cave was plunged into darkness as they knocked over the torches in their surprise. Apparently, they hadn't heard their prisoner awaken. 

Some guards they were. No wonder Dagur doubted them

They fumbled around for a minute or two in the dark until they finally managed to relight the torches. Once they could see again, the slightly taller of the two approached Hiccup's cell, and the other one settled back at the table.

"Sorry about that," Hiccup grinned. "I didn't mean to startle you."

"Y-you didn't startle us," the closer of the two defended.

"Yeah. We were just, uh… alert… tense and umm… ready to pounce." His partner chimed up from where he sat reshuffling his cards.

"Oh… well, I'd better forget my escape then," Hiccup nodded.

"Yeah… that's right." They agreed.

After a series of coded signals and not-so-discreet glances, the guard at the table stood up with a sigh and departed from the cave, probably to alert Dagur that the prisoner was awake. 

The remaining guard turned back to Hiccup, a holier-than-thou smirk on his face as he looked down at his prisoner (figuratively, and literally).

"Hello, Dragon Tamer," he sneered. "Enjoy your sleep?"

"Actually, yes. I did," Hiccup replied. "Being knocked unconsciousness doesn't leave room for many other options."

"His Deranged-ness didn't want you to escape," the guard explained unnecessarily. "And now that your Dragon Riding Buddies are here, he has to be more careful about keeping the new location a secret."

"We're inside the volcano."

The guard stared at him in shock, wonderment, and a little bit of suspicion.

"But…how?" He asked, clearly confused as to how Hiccup could have possibly deduced their location.

"Caves are normally cold and damp, but this one is dry and warm, leading to the conclusion that we must be near a source of extreme heat; in this case the volcano." Hiccup explained.

The guard mulled this over a bit. "You are very perceptive, Dragon Rider."

"It's essential to training a dragon," Hiccup said. "You need pay attention to details and everything your dragon is trying to tell you." He didn't bother to include that some of the other riders, mainly the twins and Snotlout, didn't have the mental capacity to pay attention, but somehow hadn't gotten themselves or the dragons fatally wounded.

"I'm impressed," the guard admitted. "Just keep your perceptiveness to a minimum in Dagur's presence. And don't mention anything about the volcano. I could get into big trouble."

Before Hiccup could reply, Dagur himself entered the room, followed by several more soldiers. The guard stepped back to give them room.

"Hello, Hiccup" Dagur greeted, not so warmly. "Welcome to your new home. I hope you will continue to do my bidding…Oh wait…I know you will! I still have your precious Night Fury."

Hiccup rolled his eyes as the Berserker chief chuckled to himself. He probably should have been worried, but this was Dagur. 

Dagur's moment of madness was cut short, however, as another soldier came into the room, visibly nervous about something.

"E-excuse me? Your Deranged-ness?" Dagur turned and glared at the soldier who had entered the room.

"What do you want?" He spat. "Can't you see I'm busy trying to make Hiccup feel nervous and alone? What could be so important you had to interrupt?!"

"I-it's about the Night Fury…"

"What about it? Didn't I tell you to leave it alone?"

"Yes sir. You did sir. But it…" The soldier glanced at Hiccup then quickly whispered something in Dagur's ear.

"HE DID WHAT?!" Dagur screamed. He grabbed the soldier and was about to throw him across the cavern when Hiccup interjected. Suddenly, his apathy towards Dagur's abilities was forgotten. From the sound of it, his best friend may really be in trouble this time.

"What did you do to Toothless?!" He cried.

Remembering his prisoner, Dagur released the soldier and trying to regain his composure, turned to Hiccup. "I did nothing to that wretched beast of yours. But I will if you give me any trouble. And I'll also do something rather nasty to your little friends who were stupid enough to follow you here."

Dagur turned back to the soldier. "I'll deal with you later," he snarled. "But for now, send all the scouts out after the dragons and riders…ALL the dragons."

The soldier nodded his head vigorously and then scampered out of the cavern, relieved that he was still alive.

"I'll be back later, Hiccup," Dagur snarled. "I have to go yell at my incompetent guards. This little slip up of theirs has put me in a foul mood."

The Berserker chef stormed out of the cavern. His soldiers followed behind at a safe distance.

After they all left, the guard audibly sighed in relief, then went back to his card table, leaving Hiccup alone with his thoughts.

Something was up with Toothless, he just wasn't sure what. He hoped the soldiers hadn't injured him further. His wing wasn't badly hurt, and dragons healed remarkably faster than humans did. So long as the Berserkers hadn't messed with it too much, it should be almost healed and ready to fly again. He hoped Toothless was okay and hadn't gotten himself into too much trouble.


	13. Dragon Charades

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What happened to Toothless? It's up to the twins, of all people, to figure it out.

Miles away, a large black dragon tore through the jungle as fast as its legs would allow. After the relocation of the Berserker base, it had slipped out of its cage and crept away into the jungle when one of the inept guards didn't bother locking it. The foolish Berserker had assumed that dragons were way too stupid to figure out how to lift the latch; he couldn't have been more wrong.

The dragon would have freed his human as well, but he had no idea where they put him, and it would have been too risky to try to find him. Instead, he went to find help.

Following the Berserkers' tracks from the day before, the Night Fury found his way to the cave where he and Hiccup had previously been held captive.

As he approached his destination, the dragon picked up a familiar scent. Overjoyed that he had found some friends, he gleefully charged towards the unsuspecting teens.

Ruffnut and Tuffnut Thorston had been quite pleased with themselves when they happened upon the abandoned cave in their 'search for Hiccup'.

In reality, they had just been wandering aimlessly around the island in search of fun (usually that was qualified as something to destroy). So instead of letting out a dragon call to alert Snotlout and Fishlegs when they did find something, the twins had scavenged the encampment for food and furnishings. They had made themselves quite comfortable in the cave entrance, surrounding themselves with things the Berserkers had left behind in their haste.

"I say, Tuff," Ruffnut said, "This has got to be the most relaxed I've been in a while."

"Indeed it is, dear sis," Tuff agreed. "Here in the wilderness, there is no one to tell us what to do; no Hiccup, no Astrid, and no Fishlegs."

"Just we two and our noble dragon."

Before her brother could reply, a very different dragon crashed through the tree line and barreled towards the cave.

Startled by the unexpected appearance, the teens jumped to their feet and started running around in circles screaming in fear of their lives. The dragon slowed to a stop and watched as they ran around, and eventually crashed into each other, out of breath.

As he lay panting in the dirt at the dragon's feet, Tuffnut peered up at it.

"Hey Ruff," he whispered. "I think that's a Night Fury."

"It kinda looks like Toothless," she noted, peering up at the reptile.

"Careful, sis, that's just what it wants you to think," Tuffnut warned.

Slowly stood up, eying the beast carefully.

"Once you try to befriend it, it will eat you whole," Tuff whispered. "Then you get to see what the inside of a dragon looks like."

Toothless whacked them over the head with his tail, knocking them back down. He then flopped said tail on the ground in front of them so they could clearly see the prosthetic. He didn't have time for this nonsense; his boy was in trouble!

"OH MY THOR! IT STOLE TOOTHLESS' TAIL" Tuffnut screamed.

"It is Toothless, you moron!" Ruffnut replied, smacking him upside the head.

"Oh…yeah…so it is. Why didn't you tell us it was you?"

If dragons could face-palm, a certain night fury would have. Instead, he began hopping around the teens, trying to convey his predicament and get them to help. Being the idiots they were, the teens could not follow.

"Ooh! Dragon charades!" Ruff cried excitedly.

"You want us to run around in circles, prancing like yaks that have stomachaches?" Tuffnut guessed. "You know, that actually sounds like fun."

The dragon shook its head as Tuffnut grabbed his belly and started his own circular dance, yowling the whole time.

"It's my turn to guess!" Ruffnut cheered. "Do you want us to use our dragon calls to alert the other riders that Hiccup is in trouble?"

Toothless screeched to a halt and nodded his head excitedly. He was incredibly surprised at how quickly they had guessed it.

"Why would he want us to do that?" her brother asked, confused.

"Because he is Hiccup's dragon, and if Hiccup were here and wanted help, that's what he would tell us to do."

Tuffnut considered his sister's logic with a thoughtful nod. "That makes sense."

To the night fury's delight, the twins began their dragon calls. Of course they didn't sound anything like real dragons, but that would just make it easier for the other riders to find them.

Within a couple of minutes, Fishlegs and Snotlout had arrived with their dragons. Paying no attention to the contents of the cave (or the fact that there was a cave), they rushed forwards to meet the twins.

When they saw Toothless, they were filled with joy; Fishlegs because he was starting to worry they would never find anything, and Snotlout because he was sick and tired of all this searching and missing out on more important things…like sleep. Their state of euphoria was short-lived however, as they realized Hiccup was not with him.

"Hey Toothless," Fishlegs greeted the dragon. "Where's Hiccup?"

In response, the dragon ran into the cave to look for something to help with the explanation. There was no way he was going to play charades again.

Fishlegs watched the dragon disappear into the cave. It was then he noticed his surroundings.

"Uhh, guys," he said as he turned back to the twins, "Where exactly are we?"

"I dunno," replied Tuff. "We were walking through the jungle when we came across this place."

"Yeah, and whoever was here before us left behind some cool stuff," Ruffnut added.

"Look! We even found explosives!"

Fishlegs quickly took the explosives away from the twins and sniffed it.

"Hmmm…sulfur-based…so not one of ours. Could be outcasts…or maybe…"

"Any food?" Snotlout interrupted.

"Yeah, But we ate it already." Tuffnut grinned.

"You're kidding me, right?" Snotlout complained. "You didn't save any for me?"

Before Fishlegs could interject, Toothless returned carrying something in his jaws.

"What do you have there, Toothless?"

Toothless dropped his find at the viking's feet, revealing it to be a dented shield. Picking it up and taking a closer look, Fishlegs let out a gasp of horror.

"Oh Thor. This is not good."

Forgetting their petty squabble, the other riders turned to see what he had found.

"What's not good?" They asked in unison.

In response, Fishlegs held up the shield so the others could see. In the center, painted in black, was a skrill: the crest of the Berserker tribe.

"Dagur has Hiccup."


	14. Conflicted

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While searching for the Berkians and the night fury, Simon stumbles across something else. Gods willing, he'd live long enough to make sense of everything.

It was not easy for Simon to both hurry and remain hidden at the same time but he knew he had to try. Now that the Night Fury had been allowed to escape by one of the more thoughtless guards, it was safe to say Dagur was more than furious. The Berserker chief had ordered all scouts to find and re-capture the beast, along with the other intruders from Berk. 

As the newest and youngest member of the team, Simon felt he had to be the one who found the Night Fury first. His commanding officer had said this was a good chance for Simon to finally prove his worth or something like that. He also said that if Simon failed and had his head bitten off by a dragon, he would not be much of a loss and was easily replaceable.

The young Berserker scout wasn't even sure why he bothered anymore. No matter what he did, he wasn't treated with any respect. Simon knew he was so much better at what he did than all Dagur's other scouts because he took his task seriously. All the other scouts were all just henchmen who would barge through the forest making enough noise to wake the dead. Dagur failed to see that all the important information came from Simon while his Commander took all the credit.

A soft growl up ahead brought Simon's thoughts back to the present and the job at hand. He quickly ducked behind a rock and listened carefully so as to find the source of the noise before it found him. Perhaps catching this Night Fury would gain him the respect he so desired.

He smiled at the thought before realizing how unlikely it was. Simon was still surprised the guard responsible for the dragon's escape hadn't tried to blame him for its escape. Everyone else used him as a scapegoat.

Maybe he should just give up, hide in the forests and live off the land. If he didn't return, his Commander would just assume he had been killed by a dragon. They wouldn't even bother to look for his remains.

Perhaps he could join the Dragon Riders.

The thought caught him off guard. Join the Berkians? 

"Yeah right, as if they'd ever befriend a Berserker anyway," Simon mumbled to himself miserably.

Going solo was one thing, but directly going against Dagur and the Berserker warriors was nothing but pure suicide.

Another soft sharp growl brought Simon out of his reverie but this time, it sounded a little closer. He had to find out if it was the Night Fury or one of the other Dragon Riders, so he cautiously peered over the rock and almost fainted.

Staring back at him less than a foot away, was a red and yellow Nadder. It was eying him with a slight tilt to its head, likely considering the best way to eat him. If he wanted to, Simon could have reached out and touched the dragon's beak.

But he didn't want to.

Forgetting all the training he had been given about how to fight a dragon, the young scout turned tail and ran off into the forests. The Nadder watched in amusement as the terrified young man ran head-first into a tree and slumped to the ground, unconscious.

Over an hour passed with Simon flat on his back, dreaming about being shouted at by his angry chief and having his head removed by wild dragons before he slowly and painfully came back to the land of the living.

"Ugh," he moaned. "What happened..? Oh… right… I remember now."

Simon thought about how he was almost killed by a wild dragon before crashing into a tree while fleeing it. How pathetic.

"Why didn't I just kill it?" he cursed himself. "I'm a Viking, for Thor's sake!"

As he considered this while rubbing his bruised forehead, something else came to mind; where was the fiery beast now?

Maybe it had left and decided not to eat him. Maybe it was a vegetarian dragon; highly unlikely but you never know these days.

Cautiously, the scout stood up and looked around, but there was nothing to see.

"BRAAWK!"

Simon jumped back in surprise and tripped over a tree root in the process. Looking up, he saw the brightly colored Nadder perched above him on one of the tree's lower branches.

"Great Odin!" he exclaimed, "Are you trying to give me a heart attack?"

The dragon tilted its head and almost seemed to laugh at the young Berserker.

"Great… even the dragons are making fun of me now."

The Nadder chortled again and then watched as Simon stood up and dusted himself off. It had seen many people on the island before but had always avoided them because they were usually well-armed and in large groups. Recently though, it had seen some dragons with human pets; first, there was a Night Fury and later, three more dragons had arrived.

"I guess you're not going to eat me," Simon said, "so what do you want?"

The red and yellow dragon hopped down out of the tree and landed on the ground with a dull thud.

Simon stiffened as it circled around him, stopping every few steps to sniff the strange and clumsy young man. Unsure of what he should do, the scout stood perfectly still while his heart raced away from him.

Seemingly finished its inspection, the dragon sat back on its haunches and looked at Simon expectantly.

"You're an odd creature, aren't you?" Simon asked, still not fully sure what his next action should be. "Great Odin, I'm talking to a dragon now. What has happened to me?"

The dragon simply tilted its head to the side again and squawked at him as it wondered to itself if this boy would make a good pet. Het definitely seemed harmless enough. 

Simon looked up at the sky and noticed the sun wasn't as high as he recalled.

"How long was I unconscious? I should probably start getting back to base," he told the Nadder.

"You should start heading home too… wherever that is."

The Nadder looked at him but make no move to leave.

"O-kay… Well, I'll just be going now." Simon took a hesitant step backward. The Nadder followed but didn't do anything that seemed hostile.

When it was obvious that the dragon would not try to stop him, he took another step… and another.

Simon turned and started walking at a faster pace towards the outpost. The nadder followed him all the way back. It stopped by the entrance to the caves and watched sadly as the young viking entered in.

It wasn't until he reached the safety of the innermost caverns that Simon realized he hadn't found what he was searching for. Oh well, he had enough to worry about already; he would just have to find the Night Fury and the Dragon Riders tomorrow and if anyone asked, he'd just say he lost the trail by one of the rivers.

All Simon's other concerns began to fade into memory as he pondered what had happened in the forest today. No matter how hard he tried, Simon simply could not understand why the Deadly Nadder had acted the way it had.

There was, however, someone on the island who may know, and that certain someone was not far away. 

Simon decided now was a good time to try a little interrogation of his own… if he could sneak past the guards.


	15. Hesitant Conversations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Confused and uncertain, Simon turns to the only one who will have answers for him. Hiccup, while rightfully skeptical, seems to be way too nonchalant about the whole thing.

Simon stood by the entrance to the cavern. He glanced at the guard as he slept. If Dagur caught him sleeping on the job, that poor guy would get an earful…provided he wasn't thrown into the fiery abyss of the volcano first.

Simon gave the sleeping guard one last look of pity before shifting his gaze to the scrawny young Viking chained to the wall. There was something different about that kid. Something that set him apart and demanded respect.

Maybe he really was Stoick's son…

Simon thought back to his encounter with that Deadly Nadder and shivered. Childish nightmares filled his head of how the fearsome monster could have effortlessly snapped him in two with its powerful jaws.

But it hadn't.

Maybe that walking fishbone of a boy was on to something. The dragon hadn't even tried to hurt him. It even seemed friendly.

In his mind, Simon had already started christened it Shadow, since it had followed him around. Maybe if he just gave it a chance…

He stopped himself there. He shouldn't be jumping to conclusions. Maybe that dragon was sick or something.

That was why he was here, wasn't it? To ask for information about a dragon? He had questions, and only one person had the answers.

Taking a deep breath and steeling his nerves, Simon approached the prisoner, being careful not to wake the guard.

Hiccup looked up as he heard someone approach. The newcomer was younger than the other Berserkers. He wore little to no armor, carrying just a short sword on his belt and a small crossbow slung over his back in a casual way; the same way Astrid would often carry her axe. He was obviously a scout of sorts.

He seemed hesitant to approach, as if he were conflicted over something. After another moment of hesitation, hesitated a third time. He almost went for a fourth, but was hesitant to do so.

The young Berserker glanced back at the guard to make sure he was still asleep before turning to back Hiccup.

"You know about dragons don't you?" he asked (hesitantly).

"I've picked up some facts here and there," Hiccup said. "For example, the Hideous Zippleback has two heads; the Monstrous nightmare lights itself on fire; the Scauldron spits-"

"No. I don't want useless facts," The other Viking interrupted. "I want…" (he hesitated), "I want to know why the dragons seem to like you Hooligans, but hate all the other Viking tribes."

Hiccup was taken aback; that certainly wasn't the question he was expecting.

Rather, it wasn't the tone he was expecting.

Dagur, Alvin... all the enemies he's made had wanted to know the "secret" behind dragon training. But rather than the power-starved craziness he was used to, this viking seemed genuine in his intentions.

"Um… I don't actually know," Hiccup admitted. "It might have something to do with the Red Death." 

"What is the Red Death?" the scout asked him. "I've heard of it, but never encountered one."

"Then you are quite lucky," Hiccup told him.

"Why? Is it dangerous?"

"The Red Death is the reason behind this." Hiccup gestured to his prosthetic.

"What happened, if you don't mind me asking?" The scout asked hesitantly.

"The Red Death was kind of like a dragon queen. It controlled the other dragons; enslaved them, making them bring it food every day," Hiccup explained. "Did you ever wonder why the dragons attacked the villages all the time, risking their own lives when there were plenty of fish for them to live on? The Red Death demanded more from them. If a dragon didn't bring enough food back to the nest, then it would get eaten. I saw it happen myself."

"So the Red Death was so big it could kill another dragon, and then feed on its carcass?"

"No. It was so big it swallowed a whole gronckle in a single bite."

Hiccup noticed the scout shudder at the thought of a dragon that large.

"The other teens and I went with our dragons to face it," he continued. "It was too big for us to take on, but in the end, Toothless and I killed it, freeing the other dragons from its enslavement. In the process, I almost died. Toothless saved me, but I lost my leg. Not a bad outcome considering the odds."

Hiccup couldn't help but smirk at the look on the scout's face as it paled. And he had just gotten the short version! If they were back on Berk listening to Gobber retelling it around the campfire, the poor guy would have needed to change his trousers after hearing about monstrous teeth and the breath of Hel.

"So… by freeing them, you kind of… formed an alliance with them?" The scout wondered.

"Something like that," Hiccup continued. "Some of the dragons stayed on Berk, while others flew off, no longer in fear of the Red Death's wrath. The raids stopped as well. All that was left to do was train the dragons to get along with the Vikings and the other animals. And train the Vikings to get along with the dragons."

The scout hesitated again as he thought.

"So you think the dragons still hate the Berserkers because we weren't the ones to kill the Red Death?"

"I'm pretty sure that's not it," Hiccup critiqued. "I think it is probably the fact that you guys still hunt and kill dragons. And when you do manage to capture one, when you try to 'tame' it, you rely on brute strength to try to force the dragon to your will."

"How else would one train a dragon?"

"Trust." 

"Trust a dragon?" The scout looked skeptical.

"Exactly. You must prove to a dragon that you have no intent to harm it."

"What if it wants to harm me?"

"You have to trust it not to," Hiccup replied simply.

The scout mumbled something incoherent. He seemed to be pondering over what Hiccup had said.

"Prove it."

"Excuse me?"

"Prove that dragons will not hurt me if I promise not to hurt them. Show me how to train a dragon"

"How do you propose I do that if I am chained to this wall?"

The scout thought for a minute.

"Leave that to me. I know my way around this island better than the rest of the Berserkers," he said. "I'll get you out of here. I'll come back tonight."

"What about Toothless?" Hiccup asked.

"What about him?"

"We can't leave him here. For all I know, Dagur's already killed him."

The scout laughed.

"I'm glad you find this amusing," Hiccup said. "Pardon me if I don't find a threat to my best friend's life comedic."

"I can assure you that Dagur has not hurt your dragon. In fact, if it weren't for your Night Fury, we probably wouldn't be having this conversation."

"What do you mean?" Hiccup asked, confused.

The scout was about to answer, but a small movement from across the cavern caught their attention.

Upon seeing the guard start to stir, the scout decided it was time to take his leave.

"I'll explain later," he whispered hurriedly. "For now, just trust me...like you would trust a dragon."

"Okay," Hiccup replied, "so you're saying you could take my head off, but I should trust you not to."

"Bright boy; I'll be back after dark."

The scout started to leave but turned back to Hiccup at the last second.

"Don't mention this to anyone."

"Oh, first you come to interrogate me about dragons, and then you won't let me ruin my own escape by telling one of my arch nemeses? You're no fun," Hiccup whined.

The scout rolled his eyes and departed from the room.

Letting his sarcastic smirk slip from his lips, Hiccup sighed and resigned himself to wait till nightfall. His mind racing with thoughts of Toothless, his friends, and mental preparation for his great escape.


	16. What Would Hiccup Do?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After reuniting with Toothless, Fishlegs must plan for Hiccup's rescue.   
> Easier said than done with the twins around.

Fishlegs paced around the camp, unsure of what to do next. Hiccup was usually the one to come up with the plans. When he was busy, Astrid took charge. With Hiccup captured and Astrid stuck on Berk, it was all up to Fishlegs. Problem was, he didn't know anything about leading, and the others had virtually no respect for him.

"How do you lead people who don't listen to you?" the teen mumbled to himself.

He and Snotlout had arrived at the old Berserker base a little over an hour ago. It hadn't taken long for Snotlout to wander off in search of food, and the twins commenced hitting each other over the head with anything and everything they could find. Barf, Belch, and Hookfang were trying to sleep, but it was proving difficult due to the Thorston Racket.

Toothless was seated a short way off. He was staring inland, with a worried expression stretched across his scaly face.

"Don't worry Toothless," Fishlegs said as he walked over. "We'll find him… I just don't know how yet."

The night fury cooed sadly and rested his head on his forepaws. Looking at the length of the Night Fury's side, Fishlegs examined the injury on Toothless' left wing.

"The scarring looks like it must have been painful," the young Viking observed. "A heavy net made from light gauge chain, I'd assume," He concluded.

"The bones inside your wing are truly amazing. So light, flexible, yet so easily injured. But so quick to heal, all the same."

Toothless yelped in pain as Fishlegs bumped a sore spot.

"And still a little tender, I see. Sorry about that." Fishlegs took a seat next to the dragon to ponder the situation, resting a hand on his head.

It was getting late in the afternoon, and he still had no idea how they would free Hiccup. He doubted Hiccup had managed to escape on his own. Otherwise, he would be here with Toothless. On the other hand, Toothless wouldn't have left Hiccup unless he absolutely had to.

"So what are our options?" Fishlegs thought aloud. "Whatever we decide to do, I have to bring Toothless."

The night fury raised his head upon hearing his name.

"You know where Hiccup is," Fishlegs explained. "Of course that means we'll have to get there on foot. Hiccup is the only one of us who can work your tail." Fishlegs paused, trying to figure out the next part of the plan.

"We can't go in dragons blazing," he decided. "We don't know how many Berserkers there are on this island. So that means this will be a stealth mission and-"

His train of thought was shattered as he heard a great clanking sound from behind him. He turned around just in time to see the twins emerge from a pile of dented shields.

"That… was… AWESOME!" Tuffnut shouted as he straightened his helmet.

"Yeah," his sister agreed. "Let's do it again!"

"Do you guys have to make such a racket?" Fishlegs asked, irritated by the distraction.

"Well, no we don't have to," Tuff admitted, "but truth be told, we certainly want to."

"My dear brother has made a fair point in his assessment," Ruffnut agreed.

"Indeed, it could really be asked: 'Do we have to do anything?'" Tuffnut continued.

"I believe I see your point, brother, but I would argue that our level of choice can only be taken so far," Ruffnut pointed out. "For example, we have to eat."

"True, dear sister. For if we did not eat, we would eventually begin to resemble young master Hiccup," Tuffnut noted. "On the other hand, if we took our obligations to eat to excessive lengths, we could easily end up looking like-"

"Alright, you two, that's enough." Fishlegs could see where they were going with this, and he didn't really want to hear any cracks about his weight.

Honestly, he had no clue where the twins got these ideas. They had to have sustained an excessive amount of brain damage from trying to smash in their skulls. None of the gods were cruel enough to make someone this stupid.

"Just… try not to alert the Berserkers to our presence," he warned.

"What does he mean by that, sis?"

"He means for us to fight quietly," Ruffnut answered.

"Is that even possible?"

"Don't know, but it doesn't sound half as fun as fighting loudly. Maybe we could..."

Fishlegs shook his head in pity and watched the twins walk away, trying to figure out how to fight quietly.

"Where was I?" he muttered to himself, trying to reorganize his fragmented thoughts. "Right. A stealth mission. I guess that rules out the twins."

He thought back on all the stealth missions Hiccup had led them on, searching for inspiration.

"Once we find where Dagur has Hiccup, we'll have to scope out the place and gather as much information as we can. We will look for Hiccup, and find some exits in case things go terribly wrong. We'll head out at nightfall. Hopefully, by the time we get there some of the Berserkers will be sleeping. 

"I'll bring Snotlout for back-up. We'll leave the twins here. They would give us away with all noise."

As if to prove him right, another loud clattering came from behind him, followed by the cheers of a certain pair of Thorstons.

"Come on Toothless." Fishlegs sighed. "Let's go find Snotlout and tell him of our plan. Or at least what we have of a plan. If he won't come with us, I'll just threaten to tell Astrid about how he was more interested in food than in finding Hiccup."

The dragon snickered as he stretched. He followed Fishlegs out of camp in search of Snotlout.


	17. The Great Escape

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trusting to luck and the stupidity of Dagur's followers, Simon and Hiccup make a break for freedom.

A few hours later, as the sun began setting in the west, Simon once more slipped by various guards and soldiers as they busied themselves with cooking, eating, and resting while off duty. He cautiously made his way deep through the caves where Dagur did all of his planning, and most of his shouting (often simultaneously), before finally reaching the cavern where Hiccup was being held.

The torches along the passageways were spaced out so far apart that there was just enough light to guide him through the dark tunnels, but still dark enough to create an eerie aura throughout the caves.

Peering into the cavern that served as Dagur's prison, Simon noticed that the guard was the same one who had been there on his earlier visit to the prisons. He was even sleeping again.

Simon smiled to himself. This would be much easier than he had originally thought.

Simon tip-toed over to the guard and passed his hand in front of his face a few times to ensure he really was sleeping. Satisfied he was out cold, the Berserker scout walked over to Hiccup.

"Ready to go?" he asked the dragon rider.

"Yeah, but what are we going to do about these chains?"

"We unlock them." Simon grinned as he pulled a small key out of his pocket.

"I stole this key from Dagur's private cave earlier," he explained while unlocking the shackles. "Now come on, as soon as he realizes the key missing he'll be coming before you can say 'Immediate Execution.'"

Hiccup had been immobile for so long he was quite stiff, so Simon helped the teen up and led him past the guard and out of the cavern.

When they reached the next cavern, Simon motioned for Hiccup to slow down. Cautiously, he peered around the corner. The sight that met his eyes was disheartening.

"Great," he muttered. "The other scouts are in there, probably comparing notes. I guess they just got back in."

"So go talk to them," Hiccup suggested. "You are one of them, right?"

Simon hesitated. "Yes and no."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, let's just say I'm not exactly in good standings with Dagur," Simon admitted.

"Can you honestly give me the name of someone who is?"

"Not really, but I'm his latest scapegoat. In turn, the other scouts hate me. They ridicule me every chance they get… It also doesn't help that I'm the new guy either."

"Wow. You're one of Dagur's new recruits and you're already risking your neck for the enemy."

"Well, I have my reasons, which you will learn about shortly. Besides, I have some information that you might want."

"What would that be?"

"I'll tell you later. For now, just trust me."

"Here we go with that whole 'Trust the Berserker' thing again," Hiccup muttered.

Ignoring the snide remark, Simon pointed to a tunnel entrance across the room.

"I'll distract them while you head towards that tunnel."

Without giving his companion a chance to reply, the scout headed \towards the group of four other scouts in the center of the cavern.

"Good evening," he greeted.

"Oh look," called one of the scouts. "It's Simon the Slow."

"Hello to you too, Commander," Simon muttered. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a smirking Hiccup shoot him a look of surprise. It was then he realized he never properly introduced himself to the Berkian.

"What took you so long?"

"I uh…lost the trail by one of the rivers," Simon admitted. "You guys find anything?"

"Nah, that dang beast got away."

"And there was no sign of those blasted Berkians either." Another Scout piped in.

"I did hear something earlier today," a third one added. "It sounded kind of like a yak with a stomach ache getting mauled by an angry dragon. It was painful to listen to."

"What was it?" asked the commander

"Not sure," the scout admitted. "I didn't have time to check it out."

"Was too scared, more likely," teased the fourth.

"Great Thor in Valhalla! What is wrong with you idiots!?" The Commander yelled. "You know that you can't let a trail go stale! You'll never find it again! What if it was the Target you heard!?"

"I know. I'm sorry Commander."

"Sorry doesn't capture the Target or save you from Dagur's wrath."

"Let me go check it out," Simon interrupted.

"Ooh, the rookie wants another chance to prove himself," jeered one of the other scouts.

"Whatever you say, flat-head. Not like you found anything either," Simon shot back. "Now where'd you hear this sound?"

"It came from the direction of the abandoned base," the third scout replied. "And it's not the sort of thing I ever want to hear again."

"Alright, I'll head out now before the trail gets any colder. Don't be surprised if I get eaten by a dragon or something on the way."

"It'll have no problem catching you, slowpoke."

"Wouldn't be much of a loss anyway."

Simon gritted his teeth and tried to ignore their laughter. He headed towards the tunnel he had sent Hiccup down. He caught up to the dragon rider at a fork in the path.

"This way," he said.

Hiccup followed him down the tunnel.

"So your name is Simon?"

"Yeah… The 'Slow' part is courtesy of his Derangedness. I was late coming in one night and he caught me."

"So how long have you been working for that lunatic anyway?"

"Not too long." The scout replied "My placement on this island is my first mission. I've already failed, so helping you escape and turning against Dagur doesn't really feel very treacherous."

"Good. I've dealt with enough people who call themselves 'Treacherous'."

"Ah, you've crossed paths with Alvin, haven't you?"

"We've bumped into each other a couple of times," Hiccup admitted.

They fell into an amicable silence as they plodded along. The only sound was Hiccup's metal leg clanking and squeaking as they walked along the stone floor of the caves. 

Simon wondered again why he was doing this. He was helping Hiccup, the arch-rival of his chief, escape; and all because of a dragon that didn't eat him…

But it was more than that, wasn't it?

Yes, there was something more. A desire of freedom. Ever since he pledged his loyalty to that wacko of a chief, Simon had been longing to get out from under his crooked rule. This was his chance. Of course, making friends and training a dragon were both quite pleasant bonuses.

Simon led Hiccup around another corner and the pair was met with a blast of icy cold air.

"At the end of this tunnel is an opening at the base of the mountain," Simon explained. "We should put as much distance between us and this accursed place as possible before Dagur notices you are missing."

"But what about Toothless?" Hiccup asked. "I can't just leave him here. As soon as Dagur realizes I am gone, he'd have no reason to keep him alive!"

Simon sighed. "Didn't I tell you not to worry about the Night Fury? Dagur can't hurt him. I promise."

"How can you be so sure…? What aren't you telling me?"

"I wanted to tell you earlier, but I couldn't. Dagur didn't want anyone to know. Especially you." Simon began.

"Then how do you know about it?" Hiccup challenged. "You're just the new guy."

"True, but I am also a scout," Simon countered. "All the scouts were sent out after our 'Target.' Our Target just happened to be certain Night Fury who escaped from our prison last night."

"Toothless escaped?" Hiccup asked hopefully. At Simon's nod, Hiccup's face broke out in a childish grin.

"C'mon, dragon rider," Simon urged.

The two Vikings walked out into the cool night air. Hiccup closed his eyes and took several deep breaths, glad to be out of that stuffy prison.

"Let's go find my friends," he said.

Simon nodded and took a step forward, but stopped short as a loud squawking pierced the still air, accompanied by the soft flapping of wings. Simon heard Hiccup mutter something about Astrid not staying put as ordered as he took an instinctive step back from the dragon. However, it didn't take long for him to recognize the shape of his reptilian stalker.

"Hiccup," he said, "I'd like you to meet Shadow. He followed me around the forest today as I was tracking your Night fury. It's because of him I got curious enough to help you escape."

"So this is the dragon you wish to train?"

"Yeah, and you're the only one who could help me."

Hiccup unconsciously rubbed the back of his neck, obviously embarrassed by the praise.

"Well, my friends could have helped."

"You were the most easily accessible. Shortly after your friends arrived on this island they spread out. We haven't been able to keep tabs on them all."

Hiccup nodded his head.

"And you'll help me find them if I help you with Shadow?"

"You catch on fast, dragon rider."

Turning to the restless dragon, Hiccup approached it slowly, whispering calming words to it.

Simon watched in awe as the one-legged Viking reached out his hand, pausing several inches from Shadow's beak. The Nadder looked at it, eyes full of curiosity, with just a hint of uncertainty. Cautiously, it closed its eyes and dipped its head to meet the hand.

Hiccup smiled and motioned Simon over.

Taking the scout's shaking hand, he guided it to the dragon's beak. Shadow opened his eyes and looked at Simon, all fear and uncertainty gone, replaced with… trust. Simon smiled and stroked the Nadder's head.

"This is amazing," he murmured. The Nadder nuzzled his side, causing him to lose his balance and fall over. Hiccup laughed.

Simon glared at the Berkian and picked himself up from the ground.

"Come on then," he said, as he brushed himself off. "We found my dragon, now let's go find yours."

The scout scratched the Nadder's beak again and proceeded to walk off into the woods.

"Hold up," Hiccup called after him. "You're not walking, are you?"

"Well yeah," Simon replied. "Would you rather I crawl along the forest floor? It's not like I could fly or..."

The scout paled as realization dawned on him. "Now wait just a minute!"

Hiccup smirked at the scout as Shadow flexed his wings and tilted his head eagerly. 

"Oh no. There is no way you are getting me on that dragon," he declared in panic. "I'm sorry, but I have to draw the line somewhere."

Simon trembled with fear as Hiccup ran his hand along the dragon's neck, so as not to frighten it when he left its field of vision.

"Great Thor!" Hiccup exclaimed, jumping on the Nadder's back. "You sound like Astrid did when she first met Toothless. Come on. You'll be fine."

Reluctantly, and very, very slowly, Simon clambered up behind Hiccup.

Shadow stretched his wings and took off into the night. As they flew through the sky, they did not see the small party of Vikings and dragons walking below in the opposite direction.


	18. The Sane Meets the Insane

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Free of Dagur's grasp, Hiccup and Simon begin searching for Hiccup's friends. Their welcome isn't as warm as they would have liked.

After half an hour of flying, Simon was slowly getting used to being way up in the air astride a dragon. His young instructor seemed quite at home on this winged steed, but it was definitely not a normal position for a member of the Berserker tribe. But despite his nervousness, Simon had even begun to enjoy it.

"Okay then," Hiccup decided, "now that you have gotten used to it, let's try going a little higher."

"H-higher?" Simon protested with a weak voice. "We are already hundreds of feet in the air, twice as high as some of those trees!"

"Back on Berk, we fly higher than the clouds," Hiccup said with a grin. "But today, we'll just go as high as the top of the volcano."

"You people are crazy," Simon muttered as the Nadder's wing beats picked up speed.

"So where are we going?" Hiccup turned around to address his companion.

"I want to go back to the abandoned outpost," the scout replied. "One of the other scouts reported hearing some strange sounds coming from that direction."

"What kind of strange sounds?" Hiccup asked.

"It sounded like, and I quote, 'a yak with a stomach ache getting mauled by an angry dragon'," Simon replied.

"That would be the twins," Hiccup laughed. "How much farther do you think it will be till we get there?"

"Not sure," the Berserker admitted. "I've never been there on dragon-back before, but guessing from our speed, I'd guess we'd be there in about ten minutes, tops."

Hiccup nodded. They were quiet for a while until Hiccup asked a question that they had both been pondering over.

"So, what are you planning to do once we meet up with the others?"

"To be honest, I don't know," the scout sighed. "I'm sick of Dagur, sick of his soldiers (who are almost as deranged as he is, by the way), and sick of being a Berserker."

"I can understand that. In fact, I must say that you are surprisingly sane for a member of the Berserker tribe." Hiccup told him.

"Thanks…I think." Simon smiled and then turned serious again.

"I think I want to leave the Berserker tribe," he decided. "I'll be called a deserter, but it'll be worth it. Besides, I have Shadow now." He patted the Nadder's side, who warbled happily in response.

"What do you think Dagur will do when he finds out you are gone?"

"Oh… he and the others will probably assume I got eaten by a wild dragon or something," Simon said. "I just wish I had done one big act of betrayal before I left."

"You helped me escape," Hiccup offered.

"Yeah, but they didn't know that was me."

The pair fell silent as the cave of the abandoned Berserker outpost came into view beneath the treetops. Hiccup directed the Nadder to land a little way into the tree-line so they would not be spotted in case anything (or anyone) unfriendly had made their home in the abandoned cave. The Vikings dismounted and crept forward towards the cave. They ducked as a large fireball shot over their heads.

"Did we get 'em?" asked a voice that sounded oddly familiar to Hiccup.

"Not sure," came the reply. "Want to shoot again?"

The response came in the form of another ball of flames. This time, however, it came with an acrid scent that Hiccup recognized instantly.

"Zippleback gas," he informed his comrade. "I think I know who our welcoming committee is. Wait here while I try to talk some sense into them."

Turning towards the cave, he called out to the attackers.

"Ruff, Tuff, hold your fire! It's me, Hiccup!"

"How do we know it's you?" Came the accusing reply.

"Oh gods," he muttered. He stepped out of the trees and glared at the twins. "Happy now?"

The twins examined Hiccup meticulously. Once certain that he was indeed the heir of their chief, they finally answered his question.

"No, but at least we know it's you," Tuff said.

"I am actually quite happy," Ruff said. "Now that we found Hiccup, we can leave and go back to Berk."

"Good point, sis, now I'm happy too."

"Good," Hiccup started, "Now that that's out of the way, where's Fishlegs? I wanted to-"

He was cut off as he was tackled to the ground by both Thorstons.

"What in Thor's name was that for?" He yelped.

"Shh," Tuffnut hissed in his ear. "There's a Berserker behind you in the trees."

Hiccup twisted around a bit to peer over his shoulder to where the twins were pointing.

"Oh, that's just Simon," he told his captors. "He's with me."

The twins looked at him in shock.

"Oh Hiccup," Ruffnut sighed as she shook her head in disappointment. "How could you just betray your tribe like that? How could you betray your friends and join the Berserkers?"

"First off, no one is joining the Berserkers," Hiccup growled in annoyance. "Second, GET OFF OF ME!"

Snapping their attention back to their flattened leader, they scrambled up to allow the one-legged Viking to stand up once more. He brushed himself off and motioned to the Berserker to come over.

"Guys," Hiccup said to the twins, "This is Simon. He helped me escape from Dagur's prison." He then turned to Simon, pointing to each twin in turn as he introduced them. "These are the twins, Tuffnut and Ruffnut Thorston."

"Hiccup, why'd you bring a Berserker to our camp?" Ruff asked.

"I don't want to be a Berserker anymore," Simon explained. "Shadow and I will have nothing more to do with those lunatics."

"He thinks his shadow is a person," Tuff whispered to his sister.

"Poor delusional fool," She replied, shaking her head in pity.

"He's not deluded guys," Hiccup told them. Shadow is a Deadly Nadder that he made friends with."

As if on cue, a red and yellow dragon burst from the trees and bounded over to the ex-Berserker, startling the twins in the process.

"I thought only Astrid could tame Nadders," Tuff said, clearly confused.

"What in Valhalla would make you think… Oh, never mind." Understanding the twins' logic really wasn't worth the effort. So, Hiccup decided, it was better to just ignore it. "Besides, I'm the one who actually tamed Stormfly, even though Astrid was the one she bonded with."

"I don't mean to pry," Simon interrupted, "But who is this 'Astrid' I keep hearing about. You've mentioned her a few times, Hiccup."

"She's Hiccup's girlfriend," Ruffnut blurted, not giving Hiccup a time to answer.

"Sh-she's not my girlfriend!" Hiccup stammered.

"Don't let her hear you say that," Tuff muttered.

"Astrid Hofferson is a fierce, spirited shield-maiden who is very opinionated, dedicated, and extremely deadly with an axe," the one-legged viking explained, oblivious to Simon's disbelieving smirk. "She hates it when Snotlout hits on her and loves to train with her dragon and her aforementioned axe. Never make her angry unless you wish to receive plenty of bruises and maybe a broken limb or two."

"She sounds interesting," Simon said simply.

"That's putting it mildly… Anyway," Hiccup said, changing the subject, "Where's Fishlegs?"

"Oh, he and Snotlout took Toothless and their dragons to go rescue you," Tuff said plainly.

"So Toothless made it here?" Hiccup asked hopefully.

"Yeah. We played a fun game of dragon charades, then Fishlegs arrived, took our explosives, and used them to find out you were captured by Berserkers. Then Fishlegs sat and planned stuff while Ruff and I destroyed stuff, and they all left just after dark."

"Huh?" Simon asked. He had missed most of what the hyper teen had said.

Hiccup waved off his concern as if to say 'don't bother; most of it was nonsense anyway'.

"So what are you guys still doing here?" he asked the twins.

"Fishy said something about a stealth mission and that we should guard the camp or something like that," Tuff replied.

"Well, we better go find them and tell them I am no longer in captivity before they get captured themselves," Hiccup decided. "If they brought Toothless with them, they should be walking, which means we should be able to overtake them by the volcano."

"Wait, there's a volcano on this island?" Tuff asked, surprised.

"Yes." Hiccup replied. "Where else would the lava come from?"

"I don't know. Maybe it fell from the sky… like rain!"

Hiccup looked at him incredulously. "You know what, never mind. Point is, we have to catch up to Fishlegs, Snotlout, and the dragons before they reach the Berserker hideout."

"Wait, so the Berserker base is inside the volcano?" Tuff put two and two together, and for the first time ever, actually got four.

"Yes." Hiccup was getting frustrated. "I thought we already went over the fact that the Berserkers held me captive in the volcano."

"You were inside a volcano, and you don't think that's cool?" It was Ruff's turn to be in disbelief.

"It was actually quite warm," Simon interjected.

The twins looked at him blankly as Hiccup rolled his eyes.

"Come on," Hiccup said. "We have to go and find them before Dagur does."

Simon nodded. "He's probably realized you're missing by now and has sent the remaining scouts out after you. Once they find your friends they will use them as bait to get you."

"Then we'll just have to find them before the trap is set," Hiccup declared. "Come on. Maybe we can pay Dagur a visit after we find the others."

The twins, who had understood none of the metaphors, leaped onto their dragons, obviously excited about the possibility of going to a volcano. Simon and Hiccup followed suit.

Soon, Shadow, Barf, and Belch flew back towards the volcano, their riders hoping beyond all hope that they weren't too late.


	19. Incompetent Fools

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dagur hears his prisoner has escaped. Odin be with those who get in his way.

Dagur was furious. 

It wasn't just his normal level of anger mixed with hysteria. No, this time he was completely off the chart. Not only had he been woken up in the middle of the night, but the soldier who had woken him had done so to deliver some terrible news: The prisoner had escaped.

First, it was that night fury, and now the boy. When he found the guard who had been on duty, there would be a reckoning.

"Hey, you there," he called to a nearby soldier as he stormed down the tunnel.

"Yes, your Derangedness?" The soldier snapped to attention.

"Find me the scouts," he ordered, "they have a new target."

"As you wish sir." 

The guard bowed stiffly, and then hurried off in search of the scouts.

Dagur turned with a growl and continued his angry march down to the cavern where Hiccup had been held, motioning for two more soldiers to follow him.

When he reached his destination, Dagur saw the guard pacing back in forth, muttering worriedly to himself. Dagur smiled to himself thinking of how fun this would be. What better way to calm yourself down, than letting all your frustration out on one of your dispensable, incompetent fools of followers?

The guard jumped as Dagur cleared his throat, letting his presence be known.

"Are you the idiot who was supposedly watching our prisoner last night?"

"Y-yes sir." The guard looked at his feet in fear and shame.

"Did you know he escaped?"

"Yes sir."

"Do you know how he escaped?" Dagur demanded.

"N-no your Derangedness," the guard stammered. "But I did find this on the floor next to the shackles." He pulled something out of his pocket and offered it to his chief.

Dagur snatched the thing from the outstretched palm, which drew back almost immediately. He glared at the guard then looked at the metal object in his hand.

It was a key. The key for the shackles and chains that previously held his prisoner. The key that was supposed to be in his private quarters.

If Dagur was angry before, he was now as hot as his volcano outpost, ready to blow at any moment.

"Where did you get this?" he fumed.

"I-I found it u-under the shackles, s-sir," the guard answered, his voice betraying his fear.

"How did it get there? Hiccup couldn't have gotten it; He was chained to the wall!"

"I-I don't know sir."

"Were you not told to guard the prisoner?"

"I was sir."

"Then why don't you know where the prisoner is, or how he escaped?"

"I-I uh…I f-fell asleep…so I would be…rested and…ready to pounce?" The guard stammered, fearing for his life. And rightfully so.

"Fell asleep, huh?" Dagur sneered. "If you're so tired, I'll let you go and sleep with the dragons. How does that sound?"

"Th-that won't be necessary, y-your D-Derangedness. I-I'm not that t-tired anym-more."

As the guard's fear increased, his stuttering grew more and more pronounced. It was starting to drive Dagur insane. Well, more insane than usual.

"Good," Dagur replied. "Who knows, maybe I'll consider giving you a second chance…"

"Th-thank you, sir!" the guard exclaimed. "I am extremely grateful. You won't regret it."

"In consideration, I already regret it… So you don't get a second chance."

Dagur motioned to the soldiers who had accompanied him into the cavern. They came forward and seized the terrified guard. Dagur watched in amusement as they dragged him off, begging for his forgiveness.

As the soldiers dragged the frightened guard out, the scouts came in.

"You summoned us, O Great Chief?" the head scout greeted.

"Yes. I am sure by now you have heard about our young guest ending his stay?"

"Yes, your Derangedness," he replied. "That guard said something about it as he was dragged away kicking and screaming, sir."

"Don't mention that fool to me ever again, or you may find yourself joining him in the dragon's den."

"Yes sir. Sorry sir."

"Anyway, I want you and your men to fix our little predicament," Dagur told the scouts. "Go find that kid, his friends, and their dragons."

"Yes sir." The scouts turned to leave, but Dagur stopped them.

"Wait a minute, one of you are missing; the short I love to make fun of."

"Yes sir. That would be Simon, O Deranged One."

"That's right, Simon the Slow." Dagur smiled, remembering how much fun it was to torture that guy by making fun of his name. "What happened to him?"

"He went out yesterday to investigate a sound by the old base. He never came back. We assume a dragon got him."

"Oh well, that'll teach him for being so slow. NOW GET ME THOSE BERKIANS!"

The scouts saluted before departing from the cavern, the head scout already assigning areas of search to each of his men.

Dagur smiled to himself and chuckled evilly.

"Hold on Hiccup," he said, as if the young Viking were right there next to him. "My scouts are coming for you. And once I have you in my grasp, I will never let you get away again; you and your dragon will be mine."


	20. Let's get Out of Here

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Simon, Hiccup, and the others make their escape from Lava Flow island, leaving Dagur a little surprise in their wake.

It didn't take very long for Hiccup and the others to catch up to Fishlegs and Snotlout. Fortunately, there was a bright, full moon and the Ground Force was spotted about a mile before the volcano base. Hearing a squawking above and behind them, Fishlegs and Snotlout looked up in time to see the silhouette of a Nadder against the stars with a familiar zippleback following close behind.

Before the other dragons had even landed, Toothless had begun bounding joyfully over to the mysterious newcomer. Snotlout and Fishlegs followed suit, but stopped short when they saw who was riding it.

"Hey bud, I missed you too." Hiccup greeted the night fury as he dismounted the Nadder. "How's the wing?"

"H-hiccup," Fishlegs stuttered in disbelief, "Why is there a Berserker on that Nadder?"

"He helped Hiccup escape," Tuffnut explained as he and his sister climbed off their dragon.

Once satisfied that Toothless' wing was fully healed, he turned to Snotlout and Fishlegs.

"Hiccup didn't join Dagur," Ruff stated. "How could you even think such a thing?"

Fishlegs blinked at the insinuation. "But I didn't-"

"He helped Hiccup escape," Tuffnut cut in.

Ignoring the antics going on behind him, Hiccup gave Toothless another pat on the head as he finished inspecting his wing. It was healed well enough to get back to Berk, but it would be wise to take it easy in the coming days.

Once satisfied with that, he turned to Fishlegs with a proper explanation.

"Meet Simon. He is an ex-Berserker scout."

"An ex-Berserker? I'm not so sure." Snotlout was suspicious. "How do we know he's not spying for Dagur? He might just have let you out so you would teach him how to train that dragon."

"I can assure you I have no ill intentions towards any of you," Simon informed Snotlout. "I just got sick of Dagur and his crew-who are almost as loony as he is, by the way-so I helped Hiccup escape in hopes of getting away myself."

"Besides," Hiccup added. "He and Shadow bonded. And dragons are usually a good judge of character."

Fishlegs nodded in agreement.

"You are surprisingly sane for a Berserker," he noted.

Simon let out a half chuckle. "Funny, Hiccup said the same thing."

"It's official then," Hiccup confirmed with a smirk. "From now on, you will be known as 'Simon the Surprisingly Sane'."

The ex-scout laughed fully at that.

"I'll just stick with Simon if you don't mind," he said. "I've had enough nicknames for a while."

"Well, I don't think he's very sane," Tuffnut interjected.

"Why's that?" Simon looked at him curiously.

"Well, he named his dragon 'Shadow', but it is yellow and red," Ruff responded. "That and he was a Berserker."

Simon laughed. "There's a story behind that, but that's for another day."

"Right," Hiccup agreed. "We still need to do something about Dagur."  
"What about Astrid?" Snotlout asked. "She'll be worried without me there to protect her."

"If she were here right now, Astrid would have flipped you over and kicked you in the gut for that one." Fishlegs snickered.

"She definitely would have hurt him," Hiccup agreed. "But you're right. We should be heading home soon."

"But we can't just leave Dagur here, can we?" Simon asked. "By now he's probably realized you're gone and has sent the remaining scouts out to look for you."

"We'll have to act fast then." Hiccup acknowledged. "Simon, you said you knew this place better than anyone else, right?"

"Yes. I often came out to explore when the other scouts were back at base. You can only take so much ridicule before you need to get away for a while."

"I know what you mean." Hiccup replied. "Anyway, the plan is simple; we trap the Berserkers on this island so they can't follow us home.

"Cool," Tuff commented. "Can we use the explosives Fishlegs stole from us to blow up Dagur's fleet?"

Hiccup made a mental note to thank Fishlegs later for evading potential disaster.

"Uhh, no. I think I'll let Fishlegs hold on to the stuff that could take one of our heads off," he told Tuffnut sternly before turning to address the ex-scout again. "Do you think you could find the way by air?"

Simon looked up at the sky, then towards the volcano as he thought it over.

"Probably," he decided. "When do we leave? I want Dagur to see that not only did I not get eaten by a wild dragon, but I befriended one and teamed up with the ten of you. Can we end his rule on this island?"

As Hiccup boarded his scaly black steed, he sent Simon the kind of grin that can only be shared between co-conspirators. "Yes, we can. We'll leave right away."

He softened his smirk to a gaze of warning and concern. "Just be careful; angering Dagur is never a good idea. If you get away he will hunt you down for the rest of his life and annoy you to death, trust me."

"How did you get ten?" Snotlout wondered as he counted on his fingers. He knew math wasn't his strong suit, but he was certain that there were only _five_ Berkian Vikings. He was pretty sure there weren't ten people.

"Hiccup, Tuffnut, Ruffnut, Fishlegs, Barf, Belch, Toothless, Meatlug, Hookfang, and you." Simon listed. His face shown with pride at having learned their names so quickly.

Snotlout counted again but still couldn't get to ten. "Huh?"

"I counted each head on the… you know what? Never mind." Simon turned to the leader of the riders. "How do I get up there, Hiccup? I've never ridden a dragon on my own before."

"Don't worry about it." Hiccup assured. "Toothless and I will fly right behind you to make sure you don't fall. But it shouldn't be necessary. I don't think Shadow will let you fall anyway."

Still nervous, but not wanting to show fear in front of Berk's dragon riders, Simon climbed on Shadow's back.

"Alright then," he stated, "Let's go."

With that said, five dragons with six riders took off into the sky, the sun smiling at them as it rose, showing them the way home.

~~~~~

To say Dagur was angry was too much of an understatement to even call it an understatement.

The scouts never did find the dragon riders; nor did they find any remains of their ex-colleague, Simon. And although Dagur would never know, the nadder population on the Berserker's Forward Base Island had diminished by one.

All Dagur knew was that Hiccup and his night fury had gotten away. Again.

That and every single boat in his armada had been destroyed by a mysterious fire, stranding him on this Thor-forsaken island with his soldiers. No doubt a parting gift from Hiccup.

Dagur vowed that as soon as he got off this island, he would get his revenge on Hiccup, and then the night fury would be his at last…


	21. Home At Last

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After days of torturous waiting, Astrid is finally reunited with her friends.

Chapter 21: Home at Last

Astrid let out another sigh as she carefully plucked another herb and dropped it into her basket. The sun had just shifted past its peak, leading to the conclusion that Gothi had only sent her out gathering about an hour ago.

Frankly, herb gathering was hardly successful in keep her mind distracted from her worries, but she'd take what she could get. Better than staying idle.

Normally, Astrid would have been in the forest mutilating trees. However, Stoick had confiscated her axe, saying she had chopped down enough trees to heat the Great Hall for the next year and a half. Which was saying a lot, considering the weather patterns of Berk.

As tedious and distracting as sorting medicines was, Astrid was still restless. The only thing keeping her from going after her friends was Stormfly. Although the Nadder was faring much better, Astrid wanted to be sure she back to her usual 110% before letting her fly any long distances.

"The gods help them," she muttered as she stormed towards another patch of plants. "If they are not back by tomorrow morning, I am going after them myself, even if I have to take a rowboat!"

As she knelt to uproot some kind of spice, Astrid could have sworn she heard the flapping of wings behind her.

She silently cursed her imagination for playing tricks on her and may have grabbed the next stem a tad more harshly than she should have. She heard the call of her name, but she ignored it, unable to bear the disappointment she would surely face when she turned around and saw no one there.

She released a soft sigh, pining for her friends' return. Her walls were crumbling and she hated it. She was worried for her friends, and maybe the whole village could tell. If only she had her axe…

Her train of thought was broken as she thought she heard a dragon land behind her. This time she did turn around as she heard the familiar squeak of a metal leg.

"Hey, Astrid," Hiccup greeted sheepishly.

Astrid was speechless. He was here! He was alive! And now she was going to kill him!

Astrid took a couple of deep breaths to regain her composure.

"Don't you 'Hey Astrid' me!" She threatened. "You went missing, and I had to send the rest of the riders out after you while I've been stuck on Berk."

"Oh yeah, how's Stormfly feeling?" Hiccup asked nervously.

"She's much better, but DON'T CHANGE THE SUBJECT!" she warned. "You didn't come back to Berk. I was worried you were in trouble."

"The great Astrid Hofferson was worried for me?" Hiccup smirked nervously.

"You are so lucky your dad took my axe away," Astrid growled at him.

"Why did he do that?"

"He said I had mauled too many trees."

"Oh," Hiccup's face softened as he realized just how worried Astrid had really been.

"Excuse me," a voice spoke from behind Hiccup, "I hate to break up this reunion, but I think the dragons are a bit tired from their long flight."

Astrid looked over Hiccup's shoulder and finally too in the state of the others riders. And standing next to a red and yellow Nadder was a young man in a Berserker uniform.

Instinctually, she shoved Hiccup behind and reached for her axe, being painfully reminded of its absence once aagin.

"Hiccup," she hissed, "why is there a Berserker standing next to that dragon, and what is he doing on Berk."

"Astrid, meet Simon," Hiccup exclaimed. "He was a scout for Dagur, but he helped me escape. I helped him train Shadow and they came back to Berk with us."

"Hello," Simon greeted. "You must be Astrid."

"Yes I am," Astrid responded warily.

"It's a pleasure to meet you at last. I've heard much about you."

"Oh? What exactly have you heard?"

"Well, from Snotlout I have gathered that you put up with no-nonsense; from Hiccup I learned you are a very dedicated dragon tamer and axe wielder; Fishlegs tells me you are strong-willed, and the twins admire your willingness to beat up Snotlout… and they are also convinced you and Hiccup are dating," Simon relayed.

Astrid blushed a bit at the last one. "I will confirm most of those," she told Simon. Turning to the twins she added, "But I will get you two later for that last one."

The twins looked at each other, fear evident on their faces. As much as they loved pain, when Astrid delivered it they would be handicapped for at least a week.

"See you later Simon!" They took off towards the village, Barf and Belch following closely behind.

Hiccup chuckled, and turned to Astrid.

"Just go easy on them, will you? They did come to rescue me... Even If they didn't really do much."

"So what exactly happened that you ended up enlisting the help of a Berserker?"

"When we got to Lava Flow Island, Toothless and I went in search of the Dragonwood blossoms. Just as we were leaving, Dagur got us."

"So he was the 'old friend' you referred to in your letter." Astrid realized.

"Right. He let me write a letter home to you, but he wanted to read it."

"That explains the uh… filler."

"Yeah. Y-you didn't let the others read that, did you?" Hiccup blushed.

"Just Fishlegs," Astrid replied.

Said teen waved sheepishly as Simon and Snotlout looked on with curiosity.

"What would this 'filler' be?" Snotlout asked, clearly irked at being left out of some secret.

In response, Astrid sent her elbow crashing into his gut.

"Missed you too," the injured teen croaked.

"Anyway," Hiccup said, changing the subject and continuing his story, "when Dagur found out the other riders were there, he relocated his base. Simon had found this Nadder while on patrol. He became curious and wanted to befriend it, so in exchange for freeing me, I helped him train it."

"I was also quite sick of Dagur and his Derangedness."

Astrid was silent a moment. "So this Berserker-"

"Ex Berserker." Simon corrected.

"Right. So this ex-Berserker helped you escape?"

"Basically," Hiccup confirmed. "Then we met up with the others and destroyed his armada. Dagur might be on Lava Flow for a while now."

"Does your dad know you brought a Berserker scout home?"

Hiccup rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "I uh... haven't exactly told him yet…"

"That's what I thought." Astrid sighed.

"With all due respect," Simon said, "I don't think Stoick the Vast would be too happy to learn I was here."

"Once we tell him you saved Hiccup's life he should be fine."

"I'd rather not begin my new life as a hero."

Snotlout, who had just finished groveling in the pain caused by Astrid's elbow, looked at him in disbelief.

"You're telling me, you don't want to be a hero?"

"That's right. You see, I want to be free to explore. If I were marked a hero, I would always have people begging me to help with something, or run higher risk of being a target. Besides, I don't want Dagur to know I am still alive,"

"Even heroes can explore and be mostly free," Astrid told Simon. "Take Hiccup for example."

"Exactly, wait...what? You think I'm a hero?" Hiccup blushed.

"Hiccup ended a war that was centuries old. Look at him now; he is the leader of the Berk Dragon Academy, and he leads the rest of us on grand adventures."

"I think I've had enough adventures for a long while," Simon chuckled.

"You are surprisingly sane for an ex-Berserker," Astrid noted.

Simon and Hiccup shared a glance and started laughing.

"What's so funny?"

"It's nothing really." Hiccup replied. "Don't worry about it."

"So you're going to head out on your own?" Hiccup asked once they had regained their composure.

"Yeah. I'll come and visit though, if that's alright."

"Of course," Astrid replied. "Any time you're in the area, just stop by the academy. We'll give you a tour of the island."

"Yeah, and Hookfang and I will show what it's like to be a real dragon rider!" Snotlout added. "Before long, you'll be just like me and have all the girls swooning when you come in sight."

Astrid rolled her eyes. "If you know what's best for you, you'll go and hide before I get my axe back from Stoick."

Snotlout gulped at the warning and took a nervous step backward.

"Uh, I'll go tell the twins that Simon is going to become a nomad…" he said quickly, as he leaped astride Hookfang. "Bye!"

Astrid smirked as she watched him leave. "I can't believe I almost missed that jerk."

"You almost missed _Snotlout_!" Hiccup cried incredulously.

"Hey, it was too quiet here without him and the twins fighting over everything."

"I can only imagine," Simon said. "And I was only stuck with them for the ride from the volcano island. What was it you called that again?"

"Lava Flow Island," Hiccup replied.

"If I were you, I'd keep an eye on that place, just in case Dagur manages to build a new fleet using the timber from the forests," Simon advised.

"Will do."

Simon climbed aboard Shadow, who squawked in glee.

"I guess I'll see you later, Hiccup. It was nice to meet you, Astrid."

"Likewise."

"Do you have to leave so soon?" Hiccup asked.

"Yeah. Shadow and I are going to head out and start our lives over… Wish us luck." Simon said as Shadow readied to take off.

"Wait a second," Astrid stopped them with a sudden shout. "I know you want to leave, but just WAIT A MINUTE!"

Simon and Hiccup watched as she ran into town.

"Where is she going… and should I be worried?" Simon asked Hiccup.

"Umm…Not sure, and hopefully not?"

Shortly thereafter, Astrid returned and handed something to Simon.

"It's one of Stormfly's old saddles," she explained. "It should make your flight a bit more comfortable."

"Thank you. I don't know how I ever could repay you."

"Don't worry about it," Astrid replied.

As Simon welcomed the gift, she leaned in close and whispered in his ear.

"Thank you for saving him."

Simon could not help but smile. It was clear there was something going on between these two, even if they would never admit it.

It didn't take long for Shadow to get accustomed to the saddle. With a final farewell, Hiccup and Astrid watched the pair fly away towards the horizon.

"May the gods protect you," Hiccup whispered after them.

When Shadow was out of sight, Hiccup turned to Astrid.

"So… what now?"

"Well, I can name a certain Nadder who has been dying to stretch her wings."

HIccup turned to Toothless to check his wing once more. Despite the long flight home, however, the Night Fury still seemed eager.

"How 'bout it, bud?" Hiccup asked. "Got enough energy for one more flight?"

Toothless warbled happily in response and bounded off to the arena to greet Stormfly.

Hiccup and Astrid followed behind at a slower pace.

"I never got to thank you." She told him.

"What for?"

"For saving Stormfly's life."

"It was nothing really."

"Nothing? Hiccup, you got captured by Berserkers, and still found a way to get the flowers to me."

"Well, when you put out that way, then-"

Hiccup's response was cut short as Astrid pulled him in for a quick kiss. His mind immediately went blank.

When she pulled away, he was smiling in that ridiculously dorky way of his.

Astrid smiled and took off towards the arena.

"Come on Hiccup," she called over her shoulder, "I thought we were going flying!"

Brought out of his daydreams, Hiccup smiled and chased after her.

Maybe being captured by Dagur wasn't so bad after all.


	22. Bonus Chapter: That Poor Guard

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little side story about the guard who was on duty when Hiccup escaped.  
> What did Dagur do to him?

The guard was scared to death.

He had woken up not too long ago, and immediately wished he hadn't.

He cursed himself for falling asleep on the job. If only he had been more attentive. Now the prisoner was gone and it was all his fault.

Why oh why did he offer to take the double shift?

Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves, if only just slightly, the guard called out into the hall to anyone passing by. A soldier came into the room to see what the problem was.

"I need to speak with Dagur," the guard said.

"But His Derangedness is sleeping!" the soldier replied. "You know how much he hates being woken!"

"Yes, but you see, something has come up that he really must know about." The guard paused, building up the courage to say it aloud.

"The prisoner has escaped."

"He what?! How?!"

"Do you think that concerns you?" He asked the guard. "All you need to know is that the kid is gone and Dagur needs to know about it. Or shall I report you for withholding information from our Great Chief?"

The soldier mumbled something incoherent before heading off to find Dagur.

Once he had left, the guard began searching the cell or anything that may have aided in the escape.

He soon found a silver key under the shackles. Recognizing it as the key Dagur kept in his private quarters, the guard grew even more afraid.

He began pacing, trying to figure out a way to save his skin.

He jumped as he heard someone clear their throat behind him. He spun around and found Dagur glaring at him.

"Are the idiot who was supposedly watching our prisoner last night?"

"Y-yes, sir." The guard looked at his feet in fear and shame. Why did he have to mess up?

"Did you know he escaped?"

"Yes sir." Why else would they be having this conversation?

"Do you know how he escaped?" Dagur demanded.

"N-no your Derangedness," the guard stammered. "But I did find this on the floor next to the shackles." He pulled the key out of his pocket and offered it to his chief.

Dagur snatched it out of his hand and glared even harder at the guard. The guard could instantly tell that he recognized it, and if possible, his chief had gotten even angrier.

"Where did you get this?" he fumed.

"I-I found it u-under the shackles, s-sir," the guard answered. He was sure his voice was shaking as much as he was.

"How did it get there? Hiccup couldn't have gotten it; He was chained to the wall!"

"I-I don't know sir."

"Were you not told to guard the prisoner?"

"I was sir."

"Then why don't you know where the prisoner is, or how he escaped?"

"I-I uh…I f-fell asleep…so I would be…rested and…ready to pounce?" The guard replied. Real smooth. he though to himself.

"Fell asleep, huh?" Dagur sneered. "If you're so tired, I'll let you go and sleep with the dragons in the pit. How does that sound?"

"Th-that won't be necessary, y-your D-Derangedness. I-I'm not that t-tired anym-more." Anything but that. Death by dragon was supposed to be the most painful death imaginable to a viking. Also, the guard didn't really want to die.

"Good," Dagur replied. "Who knows, maybe I'll consider giving you a second chance…"

A second chance? So unlike Dagur...

But, any way out of the hole he had put himself into was a good chance in his book!

"Th-thank you, sir!" He exclaimed. "I am extremely grateful. You won't regret it."

Dagur scowled. "In consideration, I already regret it… So you don't get a second chance."

"What? No! Please, I'll never doze off on duty again! No! The boy escaped! It's not like I let him out!" The guard shouted in protest as two soldiers took him by the arms and dragged past the newly arrived scouts and out of the cavern.

He wept silently as he was dragged through the outpost. Eventually, he was able to get himself under control and just let himself be led by his captors.

A guard being guarded by foot soldiers. Oh, the irony.

"So, where are you taking me?" he asked the soldiers.

"Well, Dagur never really told us what to do with you, so we figured we'd just turn you loose and let you fend for yourself.'

"Really?"

"The dragons will probably get you anyway, but this way you have a chance to run."

"Oh."

"Of course we'll have to take your armor and anything else with the Berserker crest on it." The soldier on his left said.

"Okay, but can I keep my sword? It was a gift from my father."

"Alright then."

The soldiers helped the guard out of the sheets of metal that had wrapped his body. Standing in nothing but his common clothes, the guard felt bare and vulnerable.

Thank the gods the outpost was built on a warn island, he thought.

As the soldiers headed back to the volcano, the guard wandered in the opposite direction to the outermost parts of the island.

Eventually, he came to the edge of the island. He sat on a rock and looked out to sea.

What now? He was stranded on a tropical island with wild dragons and a guy who couldn't care less if he was dead. Of course, that same guy also thought he was dead.

So basically, his only option, if he wanted to survive, was to get off this Thor-forsaken island. But how to do that?

The guard sighed in dismay and began walking along the shore, trying to come up with an answer to his problem.

A while later, he looked up and was pleasantly surprised by what he saw.

"Of course," he exclaimed. "how could I have forgotten about the armada?"

Sure enough, out on the sea in front of him was Dagur's fleet of Berserker warships. The ships were too big for a single man to work, but the guard could easily steal one of the rowboats, but where would he go?

There was nothing left for him on Berserker Island, and he wanted nothing to do with those Berkians. He was just an outcast with no place to go.

An outcast...

That's it! He would go to Outcast Island. He was sure Alvin could use another soldier. After all, treachery was much more becoming than being Deranged.

Having made up his mind, the new outcast swam to the fleet of boats and secured himself a small boat and a map, so he could find his way to his new home.

As he sailed off, he turned around to take one last look at the Berserker's Forward Base island.

To his surprise, he saw the entire fleet had been set aflame. Circling the orange tongues of heat were what looked like five large birds, no doubt the Dragon Riders of Berk.

It looked as though he had gotten away just in time.

**Author's Note:**

> A big thank you to my friend MartyTheMartian from fanfiction.net. He was a great help for the first drafts of this. You should go check out his stuff.


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